Cold Comfort
by redsandman99
Summary: Mark tries to keep Jeff from falling apart as his issues with Matt continue to get worse. As the bond between them grows stronger, Matt sees it as an opportunity to not only hurt his brother more, but to also take down the Deadman for good.
1. Chapter 1

Mark ran his hand through his hair. The loss to Vladimir Kozlov earlier was weighing on his mind a little bit, but that was being replaced by annoyance at the locker room and concern for one superstar in particular. Up next was the brother vs. brother match. Matt vs. Jeff. Everyone had gathered around the monitor to watch the showdown. This was what they had all been waiting for. Ever since the Royal Rumble, both brothers had been the center of the vicious gossip mill within the company. It sickened Mark because they all talked about Jeff like he wasn't even in the room half the time. Nobody besides himself, Maria and Eve seemed to care that Jeff was dangerously close to losing it completely.

Matt went out first. Mark glared at the monitor. He could hardly believe that Matt would dare to do all this to Jeff, especially since the two brothers used to be so damn close. That was why Jeff was so damn torn up about this whole thing. He thought the bond between him and Matt had been unbreakable. It wasn't until Matt broke the bond himself that Jeff found out how wrong he had been.

Jeff headed to the ring next, but he wasn't dressed to fight. Mark sighed. He knew that Jeff hadn't been excited about being in his match, but he hadn't considered the possibility of Jeff just refusing to go through with it. Looking back, maybe he should have.

Jeff got in the ring and grabbed a microphone. Mark could hear the pain in his voice as he pointed out that he had done nothing to deserve all this, he was still Matt's brother no matter what Matt said and then he refused to fight his own brother. Everyone else in the locker room started looking at each other, because for the first time, they were truly seeing just how torn apart Jeff was over all this.

Matt grabbed the microphone from Jeff and started going off on the rant that was becoming his theme song. Jeff wasn't his brother anymore, he was tired of being overlooked, he was tired of taking care of Jeff…blah, blah, blah. Mark wasn't really paying attention to all that until Matt slapped Jeff across the face.

Mark's vision went cloudy with rage. He stood up so fast that he knocked his chair over and he scared several people around him. He watched as Matt slapped Jeff again. This time Jeff actually dropped down to his knees. Matt was demanding that Jeff fight back but Jeff wouldn't do it. He just gave Matt a sad look and walked away from the fight.

Mark immediately started heading towards the entrance curtain. Jeff was going to be there any second. Maria and Eve were following him. They were good girls with big hearts, and they hated seeing Jeff like this too.

Jeff had his head down as he came back through the curtain. He reminded Mark of a puppy that just got kicked by its owner. "Oh Jeff," Maria said compassionately. She pulled the distraught man into her arms. "I'm so sorry."

"I couldn't do it," Jeff confessed quietly. "I couldn't hit him back."

Mark grabbed Jeff by the arm and started leading him through the hallways. He knew they had to get him out of there before Matt got back. The last thing Jeff could handle at the moment was another ugly confrontation with Matt. "Girls, can you go grab Jeff's bags real quick?" he asked. "I'm going to get him out to the car."

"Sure," Eve said as she and Maria nodded. They took off, knowing that the faster they moved, the better.

Jeff didn't say a word as Mark got him out of the building and into his car. Mark got into the driver's seat and sighed. "Jeff?"

"What?"

"Is there anything I can do?"

Jeff's lip began to tremble. It looked like he was about to lose it completely. "Make him not hate me anymore,"

Mark sighed. "I don't know if I can do that. I can try, but I don't think he's listening to anyone at the moment."

Jeff put his face in his hands. Even though Mark couldn't see it, he knew Jeff was crying. He pulled the younger man into his arms and held him tightly. It killed him to see Jeff in so much pain, but he didn't know what to do about it. Kicking the crap out of Matt wasn't going to fix anything.

_Or maybe it will_, a voice in the back of his head said. _Maybe sense has to be beaten into the idiot. Maybe it's time for me to pay Matt a little visit and make him feel Jeff's pain._


	2. Chapter 2

Jeff stared up at the hotel room ceiling. He hated himself so much right now. He couldn't understand what he had done to make Matt hate him so much. He had always tried to be a good brother. Even when he was having some bad personal problems, he had always tried to be good to Matt. So why did his older brother hate him so much now?

"Jeff, please look at us," Maria pleaded. She and Eve were sitting with him on the bed. Mark was at the table getting their food out. The three of them had taken it upon themselves to take care of him. He didn't understand why they bothered. His own brother hated him now. Why should anyone else like him?

Eve brushed the hair out of Jeff's eyes. "You can't let Matt get to you like this," she told him. "He knows you're completely miserable like this and he likes it. He's going to keep making you more miserable until you stand up to him."

"That's easy for you to say," Jeff said quietly. "He's not your brother." He sat up and pulled his knees up to his chest. "What did I do to him? Was I bad in some way?"

The girls exchanged looks. "Oh Jeff," Maria sighed. "This isn't about anything you did honey. This is all about his jealously issues. He can't stand the fact that you became WWE champion before him."

"So I did do something," Jeff concluded.

Mark came over and grabbed Jeff by the head. "You did nothing wrong," he said quietly and forcefully. "It's nothing you did. It's all him Jeff. It's all Matt."

"Then why do I feel like this?" Jeff whined. He didn't want to whine but he couldn't help himself. "It hurts Mark. It feels like it's my fault and I can't make it stop."

Mark sighed and rested his forehead against Jeff's. Jeff closed his eyes and bit his lip. His heart was aching because of Matt and it was beating fast because of the way Mark was holding him. The combination was making him feel lightheaded and tingly. Maybe this was why Matt didn't like him anymore. Maybe Matt had figured out his secret feelings for Mark and he had become disgusted by them.

"I'm going to find him," Mark assured him. "I'm going to see if I can knock some sense into him." He let go of Jeff and left the room.

Jeff looked down and placed his hands on the spot where Mark had been touching him just seconds ago. He could still feel the older man's touch and it haunted him.

"You love him don't you?" Maria said. It was more of a statement than a question.

Jeff nodded.

"Why haven't you said anything?" Eve asked.

"I don't want him to reject me," he said in a small voice. "If he rejected me now…God, I would just want to die." He laid back down and curled up into a ball. Of course, he kind of felt like dying now, so it really wasn't going to take much to push him over the edge. In fact, it could possibly only take the tiniest of shoves to send him crashing down to rock bottom and keep him there for good this time.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Mark found Matt at a bar down the street. Without speaking a word, he went in, grabbed the older Hardy by the neck and dragged his ass outside. "What the fuck is your problem?" he snarled as he slammed the younger man up against the wall.

Matt just stared at him the same way he had been looking at Jeff for weeks now. "Is it any of your business?"

"Yes it is!" Mark growled. "You're killing Jeff with all of this bullshit. He thinks you hate him and it's destroying him."

"I do hate him," Matt replied.

Mark punched Matt in the face. "You do not hate him. He is your younger brother and he needs you to start acting like it again. He has done nothing to you but love you and you've been treating him like shit just because your career hasn't turned out quite the way you wanted it to."

Matt looked at Mark defiantly. "Jeff exists. That is what he has done to me. My whole life, it's always been about him. Just because he's all unique and he tries to kill himself by doing Swantons off a ladder does not make him better than me. It just makes him stupider than me."

Mark punched Matt again. This was not going as well as he had hoped it would. "Whatever your issues are Hardy, work them out by yourself. But unless you're going to start treating Jeff better, you stay the hell away from him."

"Or you'll do what exactly?" Matt asked. He sounded like he was taunting the Deadman. "Are you going to come in on your white horse and save him? Mark, this is between Jeff and I. If you get in the way, I promise that I'll take you down with him." He yanked himself free from Mark's grip and stormed off.

Mark watched him go and shook his head. "That boy has lost it," he muttered. "He has really fucking lost it." He kicked the wall. He had wanted so badly to make everything better for Jeff and all that happened was now Matt was threatening him too. "Fuck," he growled as he kicked a trashcan over. This thing was only going to get uglier before it even began to get better. If it ever got better at all. _It better get better,_ he thought to himself. _Or I'm going to lose Jeff for good and then I'll go insane. I won't be able to live without him. I love him too much to lose him_.


	3. Chapter 3

_Jeff ran as fast as he could. Something bad was chasing him. He didn't know exactly what it was, but he knew it wanted to hurt him. It wanted to hurt him really badly. "Mark!" he cried out desperately. "Mark!"_

_"Mark can't help you now Jeff. Nobody can help you now."_

_Jeff gasped in surprise. The voice belonged to Matt. His ankle suddenly twisted violently and he fell down to the ground. He cried out in pain. That had really hurt. He tried to stand back up but he ended up falling back down. He couldn't put any weight on his hurt ankle._

_Matt came out of the shadows. "I told you nobody could save you Jeff," he said in the same cold voice that did not sound like his own. He stepped on Jeff's injured ankle, grinning as Jeff screamed in pain. "Do you think Mark will want you when he finally wakes up and realizes what a screw-up you are? Do you ever think he'll love you like you love him? You're not worthy of love Jeff. You never have been and you never will be."_

_"Stop it," Jeff sobbed. He put his hands over his ears in an effort to block out his older brother's cruel words. "Matt stop."_

_Matt smirked and sat down so he was straddling Jeff. "Okay Jeff. Let's stop playing games then. Let's get to the good stuff." He wrapped his hands around Jeff's neck and began to squeeze tightly._

_Jeff's eyes widened in shock. What the hell was Matt doing? He tried to pry Matt's fingers loose but Matt responded by holding on even more tightly. _Oh God he's killing me, he's killing me…

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff woke up violently clawing at his own throat. It took him several minutes to realize Matt was not choking him and he was perfectly safe in Mark's house. He had been staying there for a couple of weeks now. He hadn't been able to stay in Cameron. There were too many memories of Matt there. It drove him insane to even be there for five minutes.

Half sobbing, he sat up and tried to catch his breath. That had felt way too real. He had honestly thought Matt had been trying to kill him. And the bad part was, he couldn't rightfully say that Matt would never do that. Matt had changed so much that Jeff wasn't sure what to think anymore.

He got out of bed and crept into Mark's room. Gulping, he approached the bed and tapped Mark on the shoulder. "Mark? Mark wake up."

Mark opened his eyes. "Jeff? What are you doing in here?"

"I can't sleep. Can I come in here with you?"

Mark sat up. "Jesus, what happened to your neck?"

Jeff put his fingers up to his neck and felt around up there. He had clawed it so much that it was bleeding. "I had a dream Matt was trying to strangle me," he confessed. "He was killing me and I couldn't get free…"

"Fucking hell," Mark muttered. "This is getting insane." He threw his covers off so he could get up.

Jeff's eyes widened when he saw that Mark was naked. Blushing furiously, he closed his eyes and turned his head away. But the image of Mark completely nude with only the moonlight on him had burned itself into Jeff's brain and he found himself feeling turned on. _Stop it, _he scolded himself. _Go away dirty perverted thoughts. I can't have those when he's right there._

"You can open your eyes now," Mark assured him. "I'm decent now."

Jeff opened his eyes and he let Mark lead him into the bathroom. Mark grabbed a bottle of peroxide and some bandages. Jeff winced as his scratches were being cleaned. The peroxide made them sting like hell. "It felt so real," he said quietly. "I could feel his hands around my throat and I could feel him squeezing. It really felt like I couldn't breathe."

"It was just a dream," Mark said gently. He carefully placed the bandages on Jeff's neck. "It was just a stupid dream. No matter what's going on in Matt's head right now, he wouldn't take it that far."

Jeff snorted. "Yeah right. You don't know Matt anymore and neither do I. Who knows what he'll do these days?" He stepped away from Mark. "I can't do this anymore. I can't keep thinking about him anymore. He's always on my mind. I think about him all the time and now he's invading my dreams. If I can't concentrate on something else soon, I'm going to go insane."

Mark shook his head. "Jeff, I don't know what you want me to do."

"I need you," Jeff confessed before he could stop himself. "Mark please, make me forget for a little while. Just for a little while."

Mark hesitated for only a second before pulling Jeff into his arms and pressing his lips to his. Jeff moaned and clung to Mark desperately. He needed this so badly. He had needed it for awhile. Before the Royal Rumble, he needed it because of the lust he felt for the Deadman. And now that lust had mixed with desperation and vulnerability, which made it more than he could stand. He wrapped his legs around Mark's waist as the larger man carried him back to his room. They crashed on to the bed, their clothes flying only seconds later.

Mark broke away from the kiss and stared down at Jeff. "Are you sure you actually want this?" he asked.

Jeff nodded. "I need you. God, I need you so bad."

Mark kissed him again and reached over to the dresser by his bed so he could grab something from one of the drawers. Jeff didn't even care what was going on around him at the moment. His mind was focusing only on the feeling of the kisses and the desperate need to get all this mess fucked out of his consciousness. He had fucked plenty of women in his time, but he had never been with another man before. Mark had been the only man he had ever wanted this badly.

Jeff whimpered as Mark slipped two fingers inside him. "Fuck," he groaned as the older man stretched him. "Mark…"

"Shush, I don't want to hurt you," Mark said, kissing Jeff's neck as he did so.

Jeff let out a frustrated sigh and twisted Mark's hair. "Mark please, don't tease me."

Mark chuckled. "Okay, if you insist." He slipped his fingers out and replaced it with his cock that was already dripping with precum. They both groaned at the tight fit, but Jeff recovered first.

"Fuck me," he begged. "Mark please fuck me." He needed this so bad that he could barely stand it.

Mark began to thrust, slowly at first but more and more quickly as Jeff began to writhe and moan underneath him. Jeff clung to Mark, partly to have something to do with his hands and also to make himself that this wasn't a dream. This was not going to be another instance of him waking up with a hard on and feeling lonely and desperate. This was his reality now. This was actually happening to him. Mark was actually fucking him and God how he loved it.

Mark grabbed Jeff's cock and stroked it hard. "Cum for me baby," he whispered. He bit at Jeff's ear. "Cum for me."

Jeff's moan turned into a scream as Mark hit his prostate dead on. He came harder than he had ever come before, and it left his entire body feeling shaky. Mark came just seconds later, and they both just laid perfectly still for several minutes. Neither of them could move if they wanted to.

Finally Mark managed to roll off so he could lay next to Jeff. "Are you okay now?"

Jeff managed to nod. "Yeah. I'm okay." And for the first time in quite awhile, he meant it. He snuggled up against Mark and closed his eyes. Matt was nowhere in his mind for the moment and he managed to fall asleep without crying and feeling like he wanted to die. Everything was okay for the moment and that made him feel good for the first time in months.


	4. Chapter 4

Mark woke up to find that Jeff had nearly climbed on top of him in his sleep. He carefully moved the younger man off of him so he could get up. The events from the previous night kept playing in his head over and over again. What it meant, he didn't know. He didn't know if it meant Jeff loved him or if it had been an act of desperation. Either way, it had been better than any of the fantasies he had come up with himself.

Jeff mumbled incoherently and opened his eyes. "What are you doing Mark?"

"I was going to get up and get a drink, but I got distracted."

"By what?"

"Looking at you."

Jeff turned a deep shade of red and tried to bury his face into the pillow. He looked too cute to resist. Mark got back on the bed and rested his forehead against Jeff's. "Aw, is Jeffey blushing?"

"Shut up," Jeff mumbled.

Mark chuckled and kissed Jeff lightly. "Are you still feeling okay?"

Jeff nodded. "Last night helped. But…"

"But what?"

"Did you really want to do _that_? I mean, did you just do it because you felt bad?"

Mark raised his eyebrows. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Jeff, when I have done anything that I haven't really wanted to do?"

"Uh…never, as far as I know," Jeff finally said after thinking about it.

"You're damn right never. I've been waiting for last night to happen for quite awhile now. I just didn't know if that's what you wanted."

Jeff grinned. "Well you don't know me as well as you think Deadman." He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Did you hear the phone ring earlier? I could have sworn I heard it about an hour or two ago."

Mark shook his head. "I didn't hear anything. But why didn't you answer it?"

"I didn't want to get up. I was too comfortable."

"Oh yeah?" Mark pulled Jeff back on top of him. "You like laying on top of me? Or do you like it better when I'm on top of you?"

Jeff blushed again. "Mark…"

Mark grinned and kissed Jeff again. They made out for a few minutes until Mark had to get up and go to the bathroom. Jeff also got up to go see who had called earlier. He was perfectly fine then. But by the time Mark rejoined him downstairs, he was staring at the answering machine like it was a ghost or something.

"What is it?" Mark asked. "What's wrong?"

Jeff just shook his head. He didn't look like he was able to speak. Concerned, Mark replayed the two messages that had been left on his machine.

"Oh Jeff," Matt's voice drawled out. "I know you're there. I know you're hiding out at Mark's like the scared little baby you are. You want to send Mark to do your dirty work? You want to send him to talk to me and punch me in the face when I don't see things his way?" He chuckled. "You can suck his cock and be his little bitch all you want. Enjoy that happiness while it lasts, because I'm still out to get you Jeff. It's not over until I say it's over, and I'm not done making your life a living hell yet."

That was the end of the first message. The second message wasn't any better. "Oh Jeff, one more thing," Matt said with an evil sort of cheerfulness. "I know Daddy agreed to take care of those dogs Liger was the father of, but I thought that was too much work for one man. So I did him a favor and I let all those little doggies out into the woods. I mean, there's only wild boars and coyotes out in the woods this time of year. What's the worse thing that can happen to them?" He laughed. "Too bad Jack died in that fire. I would have loved to see what would have happened to him if a coyote got him cornered."

"Son of a bitch," Mark growled. He grabbed the answering machine and yanked it out of the wall. He tossed it against the wall, effectively breaking it. "That fucking bastard." He looked over at Jeff, who looked even worse now that he had listened to the messages a second time. "Jeff? Are you alright?"

Jeff shook his head. "He loved those dogs," he said quietly. "He loved them as much as I did. Why would he do that to them? They didn't do anything to him." He looked at Mark. "And why would he bring up Jack? He knows how much that haunts me."

Mark shook his head. "I think that's why he's doing it." He handed Jeff the phone. "Call your dad and see if he can go out and find those dogs in the woods. Hopefully he can catch them before anything happens to them."

Jeff took the phone and began dialing the number. His hands were shaking badly. Mark sighed and sat down next to Jeff. So much for everything being better. Two simple messages had torn open the wounds all over again. _I'm going to strangle Matt when I get a hold of him_, he vowed to himself. _Fuck using my words; I will make him regret ever messing with Jeff in the first place._


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Jeff and Mark arrived at the arena for Smackdown, Jeff didn't want to be anywhere near the building. He wanted to just go back to Mark's house and stay there forever. He didn't want to go and confront Matt. Gil had found most of the dogs, but two of them were still out in the woods somewhere. They could be dead for all Jeff knew, which made him want to cry and throw up at the same time. Another thing that made him want to throw up was even thinking about Matt. Matt had turned into a very scary and unrecognizable person. There was no telling what he was going to do next and if it wasn't for Mark, Jeff knew he wouldn't have the strength to even be in the same building as his own brother.

Mark put his arm around Jeff. "I'm going to find Matt," he said. "I want you to stay with Eve and Maria until I'm done. You just need to worry about your match against Shelton Benjamin tonight."

"What about you?" Jeff asked. "Don't you have a match tonight?"

Mark shook his head. "I'm just cutting a promo on Shawn. I've got the whole night to search for and deal with Matt. I'm going to make sure he's not going to hurt you again."

Jeff sighed. He knew Mark had every intention of keeping that promise, but he doubted Matt was going to give up that easily. In fact, he had the bad feeling that an ass kicking was only going to agitate Matt even further. "Can't you just stay with me?" he asked. "Don't go after Matt. Just stay in your locker room with me."

Mark stopped and made Jeff look at him. "We can't keep trying to ignore him and hoping he goes away," he said quietly. "Something has to be done now and it has to happen before he takes things even further than he already has."

"Yeah but--" Jeff's words were cut off by Mark kissing him. He made a high pitched indigent noise. That was not a fair way to counter an argument. He couldn't win after that. "Okay, that was cheating and that is not allowed," he said after he forced himself to pull away.

"Sorry Hardy," Mark said, not sounding very sorry at all. "I couldn't help myself."

"Well you better knock it off because you--" Jeff was once again cut off by Mark kissing him. Only this time Mark pushed him up against the wall and wouldn't let him go. He finally gave in completely and pulled the larger man closer to him.

"Aw, they look so cute together!"

Mark and Jeff looked over and saw that Maria and Eve were watching them. "Don't you two have anything better to do?" Jeff asked breathlessly.

Eve giggled. "Nope."

Mark reluctantly handed Jeff over to the girls. "You two take care of him. I'll be back for him in a little bit."

"Okay, but they better have ice cre--wait, Mark, get back over here!"

It was too late though. Mark had disappeared so he could go find Matt. "Fuck," Jeff cursed. "I was trying to talk him out of that."

Maria patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Mark will be okay," she assured him. "He can handle himself. Matt's no match for him."

XXXXXXXX

Mark found Matt sitting calmly in the boiler room, just taping his hands up like nothing had happened. "Oh look who it is," he said when he looked up and saw Mark. "It's the lover."

Mark grabbed Matt by the throat and yanked him up so he was dangling up in the air. "I don't know what the hell has crawled up your ass and I officially don't care," Mark growled. "I'm done dealing with your bullshit. You are going to leave Jeff the hell alone, do you understand me?"

Matt actually managed a smirk. "Or you'll do what exactly?" he choked out.

Mark was done talking. He threw Matt against the wall and started kicking the smaller man as soon as he hit the ground. He didn't care that Matt was supposed to have a match tonight. He wanted to cause as much pain as he possibly could. The door to the boiler room opened and people started trying to pull him off. He shoved them away and dropped down to his knees so he could punch Matt easier.

"That's enough! Mark stop!" Jeff came in and pulled Mark up to his feet. Eve and Maria soon followed.

"We tried to stop him," Maria explained. "But he heard the commotion."

"Let me go Jeff," Mark growled. He was glaring at Matt's prone form. The asshole wasn't hurt enough for his taste. He had to inflict more damage.

Jeff shook his head. "Mark no. Vickie's coming and if she suspends you…" His voice trailed off and he looked at Mark desperately, pleading with the older man to see reason.

Mark finally sighed and let Jeff and the girls pull him out of the room. The last thing he needed to do was go and get himself suspended. Then Jeff wouldn't have anyone to stop Matt for him. "The punk better take that lesson to heart," he muttered. "Or I'm going to get him somewhere nobody can save his ass. That's a fucking promise."

XXXXXXXXX

Later that night, Matt watched Jeff's match with a quiet rage. Tonight was not a good night. First Mark beat the crap out of them and then MVP managed to beat him in the Money in the Bank qualifying match, effectively erasing those dreams about Wrestlemania. Yes he was down for the moment, but he was far from out. If Mark thought this was over just because he knocked out a tooth and busted a couple of ribs, then the Deadman was badly mistaken.

Knowing what he had to do, he loaded his stuff into his car so he could make a quick getaway. He wanted to make sure he had an escape route planned in case his upcoming actions caused Mark to lose his temper again. Somehow, he doubted dear old Taker would stop this time, potential suspension looming or not.

Without looking at anybody, he walked through the backstage area and went out to the ring. Jeff was standing in the ring and Shelton was on the mat trying to get up. Jeff stared at him apprehensively. He was obviously expecting to get hit again. But this time, Matt wasn't going to do that. He instead punched Shelton right in the head, disqualifying Jeff and making sure he wasn't going to be in Money in the Bank either.

He looked up and stared into Jeff's eyes. His younger brother looked hurt and confused. But there wasn't enough fear for Matt's taste. He wanted Jeff to be afraid of him. He _needed_ Jeff's fear. The simple act of turning on his brother had turned into an obsession to cause the younger man as much fear and as much pain as possible. It had been growing for years but he had repressed it because that was what good big brothers were supposed to do.

But then he saw how much momentum Jeff had going into Survivor Series. He saw what was happening and it sickened him. Being WWE champion had been his dream and Jeff was going to get it first. In a moment of desperation, he had attacked Jeff in the stairwell with a crowbar. At first, seeing his brother crumpled up at the bottom of the staircase had horrified him. It had horrified him so much he repressed his rage filled feelings and went back to being a good big brother. But after Jeff won the title those feelings came out again and they were stronger than before. Finally he gave in and began sabotaging Jeff anyway he could. He had tried to run Jeff off the road in hopes that Jeff would be hurt enough to have to give up the title. And then he had caused the pyro accident just to send a message. And now all of this…this was to make Jeff fight him. He wanted to beat Jeff and prove once and for all that he was the better Hardy. He wanted to prove that Jeff had not deserved to be WWE champion and didn't deserve to even have another title match.

He slowly turned around and walked back to the locker room. He could feel Jeff's eyes on him the entire way. People kept giving him dirty looks. Almost everybody sided with Jeff, but he didn't care. He was on his side and that was all that mattered.

"Matt!" Mark yelled. He was storming over to him and he looked pissed. "What did I just tell you?"

Matt smirked as security tried to get between them before anything started. "I didn't lay a hand on him. I don't see why you're so upset."

Mark started fighting through the security and Matt took that as an opportunity to run around everyone and escape the building. There were too many guards slowing Mark down so Matt didn't get caught. Matt knew he wasn't always going to be this lucky though. There wasn't always going to be security around to stop Mark from killing one of Vickie's superstars. Matt knew he was screwed if Mark caught him unprepared.

"That's why I'll be prepared," he muttered. He looked over in the passenger's seat. The crowbar he had used on Jeff before Survivor Series was there. It still had some of Jeff's blood on it. _Mark's going to have a little accident_, Matt thought excitedly. _Only he's not going to bounce back as quickly as Jeff did. In fact, he's not going to bounce back at all if I get my way._


	6. Chapter 6

Mark took Jeff with him when he appeared on Raw Monday night. The tension between him and Shawn was growing with each passing day. The fact that Shawn had managed to get the last world put Mark in a cranky mood for the rest of the night. "I'm getting in the shower," he told Jeff as soon as they got into their hotel room. He didn't even wait to hear a response. He just went into the bathroom, stripped off his clothes and got right into the shower. The water was as hot as he could stand it. _Shawn thinks he can beat me at MY event? Who the hell does he think he is? _He shook his head. Shawn's arrogance could always be counted on to get under Mark's skin. _I'll knock the arrogance right out of him, that's what I'll do._

The shower curtain was pulled back and Jeff stepped in with him. "I knew you were pouting in here," he said triumphantly.

Mark glared at him. "I am not pouting. I am thinking about strangling Michaels."

Jeff grinned. "Oh jeez Mark, you're so homicidal all the time. You really should see a therapist about that."

"How about I just do this instead?" Mark grabbed a fistful of Jeff's hair and kissed him roughly. Jeff moaned sweetly and nibbled on Mark's lips. "This is much better than therapy," Mark mumbled.

"Well that's good to hear," Jeff said with a smirk. He kissed his way Mark's body, deliberately avoiding the larger man's painfully hard cock.

"Don't you dare tease me Hardy," Mark growled.

Jeff grinned seductively before grasping the base of his cock with his hand and circling the head with his tongue. "What do you mean like this?"

Mark had to resist the urge to grab Jeff by the back of the head and throat fuck him silly. This relationship was still too new to get that rough without permission. He didn't want to do something Jeff didn't like. "Fuck," he gasped as Jeff deep throated him without any warning. Jeff's mouth was to tight and felt unbelievably good. He grabbed on to the shower wall just so he could keep his balance. _And he claims he's never done this before. Either he's lying or he's naturally talented at this._

Jeff began humming which made Mark lose it. He gave in to his more primal urges and held Jeff's head still so he could thrust without any objection. He cursed loudly as he came, probably waking the people the next door. "Jesus Christ Jeff," he groaned.

"Somebody needs to teach you about patience," Jeff said. He got back up to his feet and rubbed his throat. "That hurt."

"Sorry babe."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it. I think you need to do a little more to make it up to me." He grinned seductively and leaned against the shower wall.

Mark instantly felt himself harden again. "I have to do something more huh?" he asked in amusement. He pulled Jeff towards him by the waist and kissed him until he was out of breath. "How was that?"

"It was a start," Jeff said slowly. "But I still need a little more."

Mark grinned and picked Jeff up. Jeff instantly wrapped his legs around his waist. Mark used the water to wet his fingers and he shoved three of them inside of Jeff, scissoring them and using them to work Jeff's prostate.

"Mark…fuck…I need more," Jeff gasped.

"I don't know," Mark said. "I kind of want to see if I could make you cum like this."

Jeff shook his head. "Maybe later. Just fuck me now. Please…"

That was all Mark needed to hear. He yanked his fingers out and slammed himself into Jeff, yelping in pain as Jeff clawed at his back. He pushed Jeff up against the wall and fucked him hard, which was exactly what the younger man had wanted.

"Oh fuck…Mark…oh God…" Jeff panted. He let out an incoherent cry as he came, spilling his see all over Mark's chest. Watching Jeff cum made Mark cum and he had to muffle his screams against Jeff's lips.

"Holy shit," Mark whispered. He rested his head against Jeff's. "You are amazing babe."

"I know," Jeff said with a grin. He kissed Mark softly. "I really only came in here to tell you that we needed more ice."

Mark raised his eyebrows. "Naked?"

"Yeah. How else would I tell you that we needed something?"

Mark laughed and they finished showering. Once they got out, Mark slipped on some boxer shorts so he could go and get the ice they needed. The ice machine on their floor was broken, so he decided to just go downstairs and use that one. As he started heading down the stairs, he heard somebody creep up behind him. He didn't get to turn around and see who it was though. Something hard and metal hit him behind the ear, throwing him off his equilibrium. He lost his balance as the object hit him on the head again, and he tumbled down the stairs. He landed in a painful heap on the floor. That wasn't the end of the assault though. A figure dressed in all black kept hitting him over and over again, and all he could do was try to cover himself up.

"Rest in peace Deadman," a voice told him. "Rest in peace."

_Matt,_ Mark thought as he lost consciousness. _Son of a bit--_

XXXXXXXX

Jeff started watching cartoons and didn't realize that Mark hadn't come back until about twenty minutes later. "What the fuck?" he muttered as he got up and put some pants on. Why had Mark been gone for so long? Were all the ice machines broken or something? Did he have to go out to the store or something? He grabbed his room key and set out on his search. "Mark? Where did you go?"

The ice machine on their floor was broken so Jeff went down the stairs. Waiting for him was a horrific sight. Mark was laying at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding and badly beaten. His head had a whole bunch of contusions on it and he was out cold.

"Mark!" Jeff yelled. He practically jumped down the stairs and knelt at the older man's side. "Mark! Mark wake up!" He looked around. There was nobody in sight and he had left his phone in the room. "Shit shit shit!" he cursed. "Mark hold on, I'm going to go get help." He turned around to go back upstairs when he came face to face with Matt. He gasped because his older brother looked absolutely deranged and he was holding a crowbar with blood on it.

Matt grinned. "Hello baby brother. I think you need to come with me. We have a lot of things to discuss."


	7. Chapter 7

Jeff 's stare kept going back and forth between Matt and Mark's unconscious form. "What did you do Matt? What the HELL did you do?"

Matt just grinned. "What does it look like I did? I chopped your boyfriend down to size." He motioned for Jeff to follow him upstairs. "Now come on. I want to talk somewhere private."

"No," Jeff said. He started heading towards the lobby. He had to go somewhere that had a phone and some people. That was the only way Mark was going to get the help he needed and it was the only way Jeff himself was going to keep Matt away from him.

Matt grabbed Jeff by the arm and yanked him back. "Do you have a listening problem Jeffery? I told you to come upstairs with me."

Jeff struggled to free himself from his older brother's grasp but Matt was scarily strong at the moment. Despite his attempts to get free, he found himself being dragged up the stairs and into Matt's room against his will. "Let go of me you bastard!" he yelled. "Help! Somebody help me!"

"Nobody's going to help you Jeff," Matt said quietly. "Nobody cares about you. The only person who does isn't going to be getting up for awhile." He shoved Jeff on to the bed and paused for a moment. "You're like me Jeff. Nobody cares about either of us. Nobody cares whether we live or die."

"That's not true," Jeff insisted. "People do care about me. And they cared about you until you pushed them away."

"I pushed them away? For doing what I believe has to be done?"

"You think torturing me these past couple of months needed to be done?" Jeff said in disbelief. "Matt, you're sick. You need help. Please, let me help you."

Matt shook his head. "I may be sick, but I don't need your help. I'm going to help myself." He walked around to the other bed and opened a small black bag that was sitting on it. "I blame you for my new sickness. I can't sleep, eat or do anything unless I hurt you in some way." He stopped to glare at his younger brother. "YOU won't let me rest. As long as you're here in the WWE with me, I won't ever be able to rest."

Jeff rolled off the bed. He was suddenly very afraid of what could possibly be in that bag. "Matt please, whatever you're thinking of doing, don't," he pleaded as he backed himself up towards the door. "You're only going to get yourself in trouble."

Matt smirked. "Actually, you're the one who's going to get in trouble." He pulled a syringe out of the bag that was filled with heroin. "You're one screw up away from getting fired for good. Everyone's just waiting for you to do it. Let's fulfill their expectations, shall we?"

_He's gone insane_, Jeff thought. _He might seriously need to be committed to an insane asylum._ "Matt don't--"

Matt lunged at Jeff at the same time Jeff lunged for the door. Jeff managed to open the door but Matt picked him up by the waist with one hand and tossed him back to the bed. They struggled for several minutes, but Matt was bigger and stronger than Jeff was. He got the best of Jeff, pinning one of Jeff's arms down with one knee so he could have both hands free for his evil plan.

"Let go!" Jeff said desperately. He pounded his fists against Matt's back and yanked at his older brother's hair. None of it seemed to make a difference. Matt slapped at Jeff's captured arm a several time in an effort to bring out the veins.

"There's one," Matt said triumphantly. He looked down at Jeff and grinned. "Now hold still. We don't want the needle to get stuck, do we?"

"Matt don't," Jeff begged. He whimpered as the syringe was inserted into his arm. _Oh God oh God I'm fucked_, he thought to himself as Matt's fingers got closer and closer to the plunger.

Suddenly Matt was struck with something very hard and very wooden. He rolled off of Jeff and turned to face his attacker, only to receive another blow that knocked him out cold.

Jeff quickly took the syringe out of his arm so the drug couldn't go into his body. He sat up to look at his rescuer, and it wasn't who he was expecting. "Adam?" he said in shock.

Adam held up the splintered remains of his baseball bat. "His psychotic tendencies were interrupting my plotting to kill Big Show." He helped Jeff up to his feet. "I think dear old Matty has had some sort of psychotic breakdown."

Jeff nodded. "I couldn't agree more with you." He grabbed the phone and dialed 911. He was calling an ambulance for Mark and the cops on Matt. His older brother was crossing way too many lines and there was no way they could just go back to the way things used to be. Not unless Matt got some serious industrial sized help and Mark chose not to kill him for attacking him with a crowbar. _And if I ever decide to forgive him,_ Jeff thought. _Which at this rate, I might not do it._


	8. Chapter 8

Mark woke up with the worst headache of his life. It literally felt somebody had beaten his brain with a blunt object. Then he remembered Matt had beaten him to a pulp with a crowbar. That did nothing to help ease his pain. It just made him angry and gave him the urge to tear somebody's head off.

He looked around and noticed Jeff was asleep on the bed with him. The younger man's face was blotchy and red. It looked like he had been crying. Mark sighed and looked around the room. Maria and Eve were sitting in the chairs by the bed. They were both holding hands, once again cluing him in there was more between the two of them than friendship.

"Oh good, you're awake," Maria said. She sounded very relieved. "We were worried sick."

"Matt," Mark growled. "Where is he? I'm going to kill him."

Eve sighed. "He's in jail. He might make bail soon, but he's locked up for now." She gulped. "He dragged Jeff away from you and tried to force feed him some heroin."

"What?" Mark shouted in disbelief.

Maria shushed him with her hands. "Shhh, he just cried himself to sleep barely an hour ago," she scolded, indicating to Jeff.

Mark moved her hands away. "What do you mean he tried to force feed Jeff some heroin? You can't be serious."

"We're serious as a heart attack," Eve insisted. "He dragged Jeff to his room, pinned him down and tried to shoot some heroin into his arm. If it hadn't been for Adam…"

_Adam saved the day? Now that's something I thought I would never hear about_, Mark thought to himself. "How long will Matt stay locked up?"

"It depends on if anyone bothers to bail him out," Maria said. "I don't know who would at this point, but you never know what could happen."

That was the honest to God's truth. Mark laid his head back on the pillow. "Some fucking protector I am," he muttered. "I should have known Matt was going to try to attack me when I wasn't expecting it. My guard was down for only a minute…"

"Don't blame yourself," Eve told him. "Jeff doesn't so there's no sense of you doing it. He needs to see you're okay. He thinks you're going to blame him because Matt's his brother."

Mark just shook his head. "He's not responsible for what Matt does."

"I know, but you need to tell him that yourself." Eve grabbed Maria's hand. "We'll let you two talk alone."

Mark looked over and saw that Jeff had woken up. "Hey babe," he said.

Jeff blinked a couple of times. "Mark? Are you okay?"

Mark nodded. "I'm fine. The pain will go away soon enough. Are you okay? The girls told me what Matt tried to do."

Jeff's eyes darkened. "He wanted me to lose my job. He tried to fucking put that poison in me." He blinked back some tears. "He's gone crazy Mark. Even Adam could see it. God, I had to get saved by Adam fucking Copeland. That's how you really know that your own brother has lost it. Adam hates me just as much as he hates Matt."

"At least he helped," Mark pointed out. "He might be an asshole but at least he wasn't completely heartless. He could have chose not to help you."

Jeff shuddered. "I know, but Matt's my own brother. I shouldn't need to be saved from my own brother." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Adam said Matt must have had a psychotic breakdown. Do you think that's true?"

"Fuck, I don't know what to believe anymore. A psychotic breakdown could explain what's been going on with him. He's probably been cracking for a long time now and hasn't been saying anything about it. He's a bit more stubborn when it comes to hiding his feelings."

"Well we need to help him then," Jeff decided.

Mark shook his head. "Hold on a second Jeff. We don't even know for sure that's what's going on with him. The last thing we need to do is go to help him and then get hit with something else. And even if it is what's wrong with him, I think we're the last two people he's going to listen to."

"But we can't just sit back and do nothing!" Jeff insisted. "I still love him. I hate what he's been doing but he's still my brother. I have to do something."

Mark knew Jeff was sincere about this, but the last thing he wanted was for Jeff to go anywhere near Matt. "Let's just take everything one step at a time," he suggested. "Let's not decide anything tonight. Maybe Matt will snap back into reality after spending the night in jail. But you need to be prepared to not being able to help him. I don't want you to get your hopes all up and then have them torn down again because he chooses to go all psycho again."

Jeff nodded. "Okay." He laid his head on Mark's chest. "I love you."

Mark grinned. "I love you too kid."

"Awww!" Maria and Eve cooed from the doorway. They probably had been listening the whole time.

Mark and Jeff glared at them. "Shut up," they said at the same time. There had been a reason Mark gave up on women: they had been so damn annoying.

"Mark and Jeff, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S--"

"Maria, if you finish that, you're going to get it when I get better," Mark warned her.

She instantly shut up. "Sorry, I'll be good," she promised. "Cross my heart, hope to die."

"That's better," Mark said. He closed his eyes and soon found himself drifting back off to sleep. They could deal with everything tomorrow. Right now, he just wanted some rest.


	9. Chapter 9

Jeff didn't want to go to the Smackdown taping later that day. He wanted to stay by Mark's side in the hospital. But Vickie told him if he didn't show up, he would be suspended without pay for two weeks. Dumb bitch had no sympathy for anybody. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he got a phone call as he was trying to enjoy Mark's company while he could.

"Jeff, we have a problem," Shane Helms said immediately. "Matt got out."

Jeff's eyes widened. "What? How?"

Mark, Eve and Maria looked at him in concern. "What is it?" Eve asked. "What happened?"

"Beth bailed him out," Shane explained. "I don't know how she got that money but she let the lunatic out of the cell." He sighed. "She's pissed at you Jeff. She knew how you felt about Mark the entire time of your relationship with her. I think this is her revenge."

Jeff gulped. He knew that a woman scorned was nothing to laugh about and Beth felt very, very scorned. He hadn't seen her since the ugly break-up, which had ended with her throwing a plate at his head and storming out of his life. At least, he had believed she had stormed out of his life. Apparently, things had changed since the last time he had seen her. "How did you find out?" he asked. "How did you find out before me?"

Shane sighed again. "I saw them together outside the jail. Jeff…they were kissing."

_Oh that's just great,_ Jeff thought to himself. _The two people who want to hurt me the most have joined forces._ Hearing about Beth and Matt upset him. It wasn't that he still had feelings for Beth. It was just that together, Matt and Beth pretty much knew everything about him. The last thing he needed was for either of them to have any more ammo on him than they already did. "Is he going to be at Smackdown tonight?"

"What do you think?"

That meant yes. "Thanks for the warning Shane." Jeff hung up the phone and looked at the others. "Matt got out. Beth got him out."

Maria and Eve exchanged worried looks. Mark simply sighed and started to get up. "Son of a fucking bitch," he muttered. "The fun never stops, does it?"

Jeff's eyes widened. "Mark what are you doing?"

"I'm coming with you tonight." Mark stopped once he was on his feet. He looked ready to either pass out or throw up. Maybe he was going to do both. "Maybe I should have taken something for the pain first," he muttered.

Jeff quickly went around to the other side of the bed and started trying to get Mark back in the hospital bed. "Mark stop," he pleaded. "You're in no shape to be moving around right now. There's no way you can come with me tonight."

"Like hell I'm not," Mark growled. "I'm not letting you face him alone."

"But you can barely stand!" Jeff pointed out. "What are you going to do if Matt takes me out of the equation and decides to finish the job he started in the first place?"

"Jeff's right Mark," Maria said. "And if you show up tonight, what if Vickie's there and she makes you fight Vladimir Kozlov anyway? The only reason we were able to get you out of that match was because you were in the hospital!"

"I don't care!" Mark snapped. "I'm going and that's final!" He took a couple of steps forward and nearly passed out. Jeff and the girls barely managed to catch him before he hit the ground and they dragged him back on to the bed.

"I'm fine," Mark muttered. "I just got a little dizzy."

Jeff physically restrained Mark before he could try to get back up again. "You're not coming with me," he said quietly. "You need to stay here. I'll be fine."

"Jeff--"

Jeff cut him off with a kiss. He didn't want to go but he knew he didn't have a choice. He got up and quickly left the room before Mark could say anything else. Maria came with him, leaving Eve behind to watch the injured man.

"It's going to be okay Jeff," Maria said. "Matt has to know he can't risk doing anything too stupid so soon after all this."

That failed to comfort Jeff in the least. He wanted Mark to be by his side but he knew in his heart the hospital was the best place for his lover. Maria drove them to the arena and Jeff hid in his locker room for as long as he could. He had every intention of only leaving when Maria's match was over so they could go back to the hospital. But then Matt came to the ring and started talking.

"The black cloud continues to hang over Jeff Hardy and it will continue to hang over him until he agrees to fight me," Matt announced. He still looked completely psychotic. "I had to come out here to get these things off my chest. I tried to communicate these things to Jeff, but he wouldn't listen."

"Communicate my ass," Jeff muttered. "All you've done is make me miserable."

"Maybe that's his form of communicating now," Maria said.

"Tonight, I'm going to make you listen Jeff," Matt said. "This year has been pretty tough for you Jeff. You've had lots of highs and lows. A lot of ups and downs. Last year, you missed Wrestlemania because you were suspended. I also missed Wrestlemania because I was injured. I had a legitimate injury, but all anyone cared about was you. They would say "Is Jeff okay? When's Jeff coming back? Is he getting the help he needs?" But Jeff, you just went on like nothing happened. You sat in your studio and recorded some songs and you painted your pictures. I had to fight back from my injury but you were too busy with your own shit to care. But there's one day in particular we both remember very well. You were out of your house and I came along and saw that your house was on fire. I couldn't watch as everything you owned was destroyed, but I called you and told you that your house was on fire. And you asked me about your dog. You asked me about Jack. You asked me if Jack was okay."

Jeff just stared at the monitor. "Matt, don't go there," he muttered. "Don't go there please--"

"We all know what happened to Jack," Matt continued. "Jack didn't make it. Sometimes, accidents turn into tragedies." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the burned remains of a dog collar. "I found this in a pile of ashes the next day. I've had it ever since. I wanted to give it to you when the time was right. The time is right now Jeff. I want to give this to you as a token of love."

Jeff wasn't aware that he had gotten up and stormed out of the locker room until he was halfway down the ramp. The memory of the day his house burned down kept playing over and over again in his mind. The fact that Matt had Jack's dog collar made him sick. This whole thing made him sick. He got into the ring and snatched the microphone away from Matt.

"I can't believe you're behind all the stuff that's happened to me Matt," he said. "The stairwell attack on both me and Mark, the car accident, the pyro incident…you've tried to blow me up! You tried to drug me! I don't know how you could do all that to me. And now you're holding this collar out as a token of love? You don't love me Matt! You hate me! But you hate yourself more than you know, because you're sick and demented." Jeff paused for a moment. He let the memory of all the pain Matt had been causing wash over him. "And so am I!" He dropped the microphone and speared Matt to the ground. He couldn't take it anymore. He punched Matt as hard as he could until Matt managed to slide out of the ring."

"Jeff I'm sorry!" Matt said quickly. "I don't want to fight you. I love you and you're my brother. I don't want to fight you."

Jeff didn't believe him for a second. But he just stayed hung up on the ropes, unable to process how this all got this fucked up. He had hit his own brother, who was now walking away. He stared at Matt as he walked until he looked up and saw the giant Titan Tron. He saw the look on Matt's face.

Matt was smiling now. This wasn't over by a long shot. Things were really only getting started now. Jeff looked down in defeat. He didn't think he could take much more of this shit. He didn't want to be as sick and demented as Matt. But if he wanted to survive all this, maybe he would have to go to that level. It could be his only choice.


	10. Chapter 10

"You're sick and twisted and so am I! Pow, pow, pow!"

Mark just stared at Eve, who had been doing her impersonation of Jeff for the past twenty minutes now (she was even pounding on the bed pretending it was Matt). "You can stop that any time now you know."

She stopped and gave him a hurt look. "Am I not doing it right?"

"You're driving me nuts."

"Sorry, but I'm so proud of him! He finally punched Matt right in the face. The bastard totally deserved it."

"I agree but you also had to see that smile Matt had as he was walking away. I think Jeff played right into his hands."

"Well what else was he supposed to do? He can't just sit back and take it any more. He has to stand up for himself and for you. Oh and I thought it was so cute how he mentioned you too. Although I got to wonder what Vince will say if he figures it out."

"Vince ain't going to say a damn thing," Mark assured her. "All of his top stars are either bisexual or gay. As long as it doesn't complicate the job, he doesn't care what we do with our sex lives."

Eve grinned. "Really? So who's doing who then?"

Mark was spared from having to answer that question by the arrival of Jeff and Maria. "Mark," Jeff said. He looked ready to cry.

"Come here," Mark said immediately.

Jeff basically jumped right into Mark's arms and buried his face into the larger man's shoulder so his cries were muffled. It jarred Mark's injuries a little bit but he didn't say anything. "Shhhh, it's okay," he said. "It's okay."

"He brought up Jack," Jeff said. "Couldn't he leave my fucking dog out of this? Is nothing fucking sacred any more?"

Obviously not, but Mark didn't say that. That wasn't what Jeff needed to hear at the moment. He rubbed Jeff's back in an effort to soothe him. "Shush, it's okay. It's going to be okay. We'll figure out a way to make this all stop. He can't keep going like this for much longer."

"If you beat him at Wrestlemania, then maybe it'll just take the wind right out of his sails," Maria suggested. "We all know you're better than he is. You just have to prove it."

"But I don't want to have to prove anything!" Jeff whined. "It's fucking not fair! I don't want to fight him. Why the fuck can't he just leave me be?"

Mark made Jeff sit up so they could have complete and total eye contact. "Sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to do," he said quietly. "I didn't want to fight Glenn when he first came to the WWE. I swore I would never fight my own flesh and blood. But desperate men push their targets into a corner until they have no choice BUT to fight back. Matt's got you in that corner. You're damned if you fight him and you're even more damned if you don't. But I think we're past the point where we can stick our head in the sand and hope he goes away."

Jeff nodded reluctantly. "Fine. I guess I'm not going to have much choice in the matter. I'll either have to fight him at Wrestlemania and shut him up once and for all or hire a hit man to kill him."

"Jeff!"

"I'm kidding. The hit man will only maim him enough to put him in a coma or at least knock him out long enough to put his ass in the loony bin."

Mark just sighed and shook his head. Damn Jeff and his crazy ideas. As if they needed to hire a hit man. Mark was going to kick Matt's ass as soon as he could get out of this fucking hospital.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Matt held Jack's collar with one hand and he just stared at it. He was glad Jeff had hit him. It was about time the little pussy got into the game. He wanted Jeff to fight back and lose. That would make his victory that much sweeter.

"What do you think they're doing right now?" Beth asked. She was standing in front of the mirror brushing her hair.

"Who?" he asked, even though he knew who she was talking about.

"Jeff and Mark."

He grinned. "Not much of anything I suspect. Mark's still in the hospital you know."

She turned around to face him. "Do you think he likes it?"

"Who likes what?" This was their little game. She asked the questions she already knew the answers to and then he would play dumb at first before answering them all over again.

"Do you think Jeff likes it when Mark fucks him?"

"Oh he loves it. I bet Mark makes him scream. You never could get him to scream, could you?"

"Shut up," she growled. She walked over and straddled his lap. "What about you? Do you want to make Jeff scream?"

He smirked. "Maybe not in the way you're thinking about, but yeah, I will make Jeff scream in pain. I've made him beg for mercy before and I'll do it again."

She grinned. "What do you mean you don't want to make him scream in the way I'm thinking about? I couldn't think of anything more perfect. It'll hurt him mind, body and soul."

"Okay first of all, I'm not gay, so the whole raping a guy thing isn't exactly a turn on. And even if I was gay, he's my brother, no matter how much I deny it. That's just sick, even by my standards."

She sighed. "Well why don't you hire somebody else to do it? I'm sure there are a lot of guys out there who want a piece of him."

"I bet there are but nobody's going to help me over Mark. They're all afraid of the big bad Undertaker."

"Well then you're going to have to make a choice whether to cross the line or not. It's your choice really. But if you do cross the line…think of all the new mind games you can play. Think about them and tell me it doesn't sound fun."

Matt grinned. "You are even more twisted than I am, you know that?"

"I know I am. And don't you ever forget it."


	11. Chapter 11

Jeff was happy when Mark was finally released from the hospital. Mark was still in some pain, but he was absolutely insisting on going through with his scheduled tag match with Shawn against JBL and Kozlov. Jeff had tried to talk him out of it but he wasn't getting anywhere. The older man was more stubborn than a mule. "Why won't you just listen to me for once?" he asked as they exited the hospital. "You're in no shape to be competing Monday. You shouldn't even be driving your motorcycle around."

"Well I will compete Monday and I am driving my motorcycle home," Mark informed him. He had blackmailed Ken into dropping the bike off in the hospital parking lot against Jeff's wishes. "I'm not an invalid Jeff. Matt fucked me up pretty badly, but it's not going to be as bad as he's going to get fucked up." He sat down on his precious motorcycle. "Now get on. I'm sick of being here. I just want to go home."

Jeff sighed and climbed on the bike too. "You're going to worry me to death one of these days. I hope you know that."

"Me worry you to death? I think it's going to be the other way around Hardy." Mark started the bike up and Jeff tightened his grip on Mark's waist as much as he dared to. He soon realized that Mark wasn't joking about getting the hell home because he went way too fast and almost got pulled over by two different cops before they finally got to the house.

"You see, I can still drive," Mark said triumphantly as he got off the bike.

"Yeah, you still drive like a complete and total maniac," Jeff muttered. He shook his head. "One of these days we're going to crash and you're going to be sorry."

"I am not going to wreck my bike. Quit worrying so much."

"One of us has to worry about your driving."

Mark glared at him. "There's no need to get personal Jeff. I don't complain about your driving and you got in more wrecks than I have."

"It was one time and it was the other guys fault!" Jeff said defensively. He started pulling Mark towards the house. The older man had no idea what was waiting inside and he just hoped everyone had gotten everything ready. "I can't help it if they don't know how to stop at a red light."

"You slammed on the brakes like two seconds before you would have ran the damn light," Mark reminded him. He frowned as Jeff kept dragging him along. "Why are you so suddenly eager to get inside? You were just telling me to take it easy barely a half hour ago."

"You'll see why in a minute," Jeff said cryptically. He unlocked Mark's door and pulled him inside. The house was completely dark. "Son of a bitch, where did the light go?"

"You got to move your hand up more," a hushed voice said.

"Ken! Shut up!"

Mark groaned. "Oh son of a--"

Jeff hit the lights and Ken, Glenn, Maria, Eve, Kofi, Phil, Hunter, Christian, Evan, Rey, Ron, Mickie, Kelly, Carlito and Primo jumped out of their hiding places. "Surprise!" they yelled. They had hung up a banner that said "Welcome Home Mark" up across the wall. They also had food and drinks set up on a card table although Phil and Christian were already stuffing their faces in.

Mark just glared at Jeff. "You are evil, you know that?"

"Throwing you a welcome home party does not qualify as being evil."

"It is when you know I don't like parties."

"Oh come on big brother," Glenn said. He put his arm around Mark. "We're happy you're okay. And we wanted an excuse to drink beer and eat food and make idiots out of ourselves. So consider yourself lucky. We only do this with the people we love."

Mark just stared at his little brother before shaking his head. "What did I tell you about touching me?"

Glenn took his hand away. "Sorry."

Ken rolled his eyes. "I knew he wouldn't appreciate this."

"Aw screw him, let's party whether he likes it or not," Christian said. He pulled out a kazoo and held it up. "So who's entrance music should I play first?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Unbeknownst to the people in Mark's house, Matt was on the outside looking in the entire time. He had left Beth behind because he didn't want to hear her nagging the entire time. She would just keep telling him to make a move and hurt Jeff. She hadn't appreciated not having Jeff love her the same way she had loved him. It had made her go nuts with desires of revenge. Insanity was the disease that was going around lately. People believed he had gone insane. Maybe he really had. He couldn't sleep without dreaming about doing something to Jeff. Hurting him in some way. But last night he had a dream that he had done what Beth suggested and he had raped Jeff. He had raped his own brother and literally threw up when he woke up in the morning.

That had to mean something, didn't it? It had to mean he wasn't as sick as they all thought he was. Even though he wanted to hurt Jeff so badly he could taste it, he didn't want to take it to THAT level. Maybe not just for now, or maybe never. He didn't know anything any more. He was just going from one impulse to another, the goal always being the same: hurt Jeff somehow. Hurt Jeff physically, emotionally, psychologically--anyway he could get it done. If he had to keep using Mark to do it, he would do what had to be done.

He watched as the party went on for several hours. Everybody ended up crashing in Mark's living room. Once he was sure they were all asleep, he snuck in the back door and crept through the house. Nobody had any idea he was there. This was almost too easy.

Jeff and Mark were asleep in Mark's bed. He walked around until he was on Jeff's side of the bed. His baby brother had no idea he was even there. Jeff thought he was safe in Mark's house. But he didn't realize there was no safe place to hide. Nobody could keep him safe, not even Mark. The black cloud would not be denied. Matt would not be denied.

Matt leaned over and kissed Jeff on the forehead before leaving the house. This was another reason why he hadn't brought Beth. She would have demanded he did something more right now. He didn't feel like it was time to do something quite yet. He liked that he could get in and out of Mark's own house without getting caught. He wanted to hold on to that knowledge and savor it until he felt the time was right to act. And the time would be very soon. It was going to be a lot sooner than Jeff and Mark thought it would be. And even though the brother vs. brother match had been made for Wrestlemania, he doubted that either of them would make it to the big event in one piece. Hell, neither of them might not make it to the big show at all, because if they planned to take Matt down, he was hell bent on taking Jeff down to hell with him.


	12. Chapter 12

Jeff watched as Mark made his way down to the ring on Raw anxiously. He was worried about the state his lover was in. Mark appeared to be fine but Jeff knew appearances could be deceiving. "Come on baby," he muttered under his breath. He was watching the match in Mark's locked locker room. Key word: locked. And just to be safe, he had barricaded the door while he was at it too. "Come on, don't get hurt. Win and don't get hurt."

There was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" he called out.

The only answer he got was more knocking. "I'm not letting you in unless you say who you are!" he told them.

"Jeff it's me," Adam said. His voice was shaking. "I need you to let me in."

Jeff hesitated. He had a funny feeling about this. "What do you want?"

"Matt's been threatening me on the phone this whole week. He's been saying he's going to get me because I helped you last week. Please, I don't know where else to go."

_He's probably telling the truth_ Jeff told himself. _He did smash Matt in the face with a baseball bat. That had to set Matt off._ He opened the door and discovered Adam was beaten and bloody all over, and he wasn't alone.

Matt and Beth were the ones holding him up.

"Hello little brother," Matt said. He shoved his way into the room before Jeff could shut it again. Beth closed it behind them and locked it. "Did you miss me?" Matt asked.

"I'm sorry," Adam slurred out. He looked really, really out of it. Matt had fucked him up really badly. "He made me…he's crazy Jeff."

"Shut up," Matt snapped. He slammed Adam's head against the wall, knocking the Canadian out cold. His cold eyes turned to Jeff. "Did you really think anyone could save you for long?"

Jeff backed away slowly. "Matt please, you need help," he said, trying to sound braver than he actually felt. "This is going too far. You're crossing too many lines."

Beth started to laugh. "Oh you think he's crossed too many lines? Believe me Jeff, he hasn't crossed anything yet." She grinned. "But he's about to though."

"Wh-what does that mean?"

"Well since you like men now, I figured we'd give you an early birthday present and let you get fucked by the only real man in this damn company." Beth rested her chin against Matt's shoulder. "Look at him. He's all vulnerable and ready for the taking."

Jeff stared at her in disbelief. She couldn't possibly be serious. She couldn't mean what he thought she meant. "Mark's match is going to be over soon," he told them. "If he finds you in here--"

Matt cut him off by spearing him to the ground. The wind was literally knocked right out of Jeff's body and his head bounced off the floor really hard. He got punched in the face twice before being picked up and slammed down on the coffee table. It broke in half from the impact.

"Come on Jeff, fight me again," Matt taunted. "Fight me like you did on Smackdown."

Jeff rolled away from the broken table and tried to crawl toward the door. He had to get out of there. He had to get the fuck away from Matt. But Matt only let him get halfway to the door before turning him over on his back and sitting down on top of him. He beat his fists against Matt's chest but Matt merely used one hand to hold both of Jeff's hands above his head.

"Matt stop!" Jeff begged. He literally was scared for his life. "Don't do this! I'm begging you! Please!"

"Matt stop!" Beth mocked. "Listen to him whine like a girl. He's the one who wanted to be a bitch so badly. Show him what it really means to be a bitch."

Matt just stared down at Jeff with his cold brown eyes. It was hard to tell what the hell he was thinking. Confliction could be seen but then resolve finally appeared. He used his free hand to unbutton Jeff's pants.

_Oh God, oh no, Mark where are you?_ Jeff thought desperately. He struggled wildly as his pants were being yanked down. "Matt stop! Think about this for more than a second!"

"I'm tired of thinking," Matt growled. He suddenly took both of his hands and wrapped them around Jeff's neck. "I can't take it anymore. I have to end this."

Jeff's eyes widened as Matt began to squeeze tightly. His mind flashbacked to the nightmare about Matt killing him. He tried desperately to loosen Matt's grip but Matt refused to let go. Absolutely no air was getting into his lungs. Matt pressed his forehead against his so he couldn't look anywhere but into his older brother's eyes. The cold eyes that held so much hate. The cold eyes that belonged to the new crazy Matt. The cold eyes that were starting to fade because Jeff was passing out…

Suddenly Matt let go. Jeff gasped for breath and clutched at his neck. It took him a moment to gasp at the reality that Matt had stopped choking him. Matt's hands had pushed his jeans the rest of the way down and they were on the waistbands of his boxers. Jeff couldn't scream because of the agony his throat was in. He could only stare at his brother with tear filled eyes, crying and begging by shaking his head violently.

"Do it," Beth ordered. "Quit being a pussy and do it already."

Matt growled and shoved himself inside Jeff's body. Jeff's scream was muffled by Matt's hand covering his mouth. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Matt was his own brother. Oh God the pain, it was too much, it was too much…"

Then, just as suddenly as it started, the rape ended. Matt literally jumped off of Jeff like he was poisonous or something. "What the hell are you doing?" Beth asked.

Matt didn't answer her. He just buttoned his pants back up and stormed out. Beth followed him, leaving Jeff to curl up in a ball and cry.

XXXXXXXXX

Mark limped back towards his locker room. He had definitely wrestled too soon after his injury. His whole body hurt like hell. And to top things off, Shawn had super kicked him up on the ramp. He should have seen it coming. Michaels was famous for doing shit like that but he still didn't…

His thoughts trailed off when he saw his locker room door open. A terrible feeling formed in his stomach. He went in and found Jeff curled up in a ball on the ground. Adam was there too and he was unconscious. Mark didn't have to guess who did this. Matt had struck again.

"Jeff," he said slowly. He should have taken Jeff out to the ring with him. He should have known a locked door wasn't going to be enough to hold Matt back. He knelt down beside his lover. "What happened? What did he do?"

Jeff was sobbing too hard to answer at first. "Beth wanted him to…he started…then he choked me and then he…" He shook his head. "He stopped. He stopped before he was done and he just left. She went after him. Oh God…"

Mark had no idea what Jeff was talking about. He started to say so when he saw the blood dripping from between Jeff's thighs. And that was when he knew what Matt had started to do.

And that was the moment he officially made up his mind to kill Matt Hardy.


	13. Chapter 13

Matt had no idea where the hell he was driving to. He just knew he had fucked up big time. He had just started to rape and strangle his own brother. He didn't know what the fuck he was doing anymore. A small part of him had wanted to keep raping Jeff. The part of him that wanted him to keep hurting Jeff was demanding to know why he had stopped. He didn't want to admit it, but a small part of his conscience had reappeared as soon as he started the actual rape. He had realized what he was actually doing and it made him physically ill. So he had left, partly from disgust at himself and the other part seriously afraid he was going to bury that disgust long enough to finish the job.

"You're pathetic, you know that?" Beth asked. She looked absolutely furious with him. "We had a plan and you fucked it up."

"Just shut up Beth," he growled. She was really starting to piss him off. "Just shut the fuck up right now."

"I don't even see why you stopped," she went on. She didn't seem to have heard a word he had said. "You had him right where we wanted him. Are all Hardys this incompetent? Can't any of you ever finish the job?"

Matt couldn't take it anymore. The two conflicting sides of him did agree on one thing: it was Beth's influence that started the whole rape thing in the first place. She had planted that little seed into his head. Snarling in rage, he balled up his fist and punched her in the face. "Would you just shut up for two fucking seconds?" he yelled. He pulled over on the side of the road and parked the car. "I can't take your fucking voice anymore!"

Beth looked stunned that he had hit her. "You fucking bastard!" she shrieked. She started hitting at him wildly. "What the fuck is your problem?"

Something inside Matt snapped completely. He grabbed her by the hair and started smashing her head against the passenger's side window as hard as he could. He just kept doing it over and over again until the window broke under the assault.

_What the fuck are you doing?_ a voice in his head asked. _Stop it! Stop it! Jesus Christ, you're going to kill her!_

He stopped and tried to catch his breath. There was blood just pouring out of Beth's head now. He cursed under his breath and felt for a pulse. There wasn't one to be found. "Oh fuck," he muttered. He had really fucked up now. Shane had made sure everyone knew he had been running around with Beth. Once they realized she was missing, they would question him first. They would find blood in his car and he would get arrested. They would be able to prove it was him. He would be going to jail for the rest of his life.

_That's if Mark doesn't kill you_, another voice said. _He's going to know what you did to Jeff. He's going to kill you and he's going to like it._

He forced himself to take several deep breaths. He had to calm down and focus. Panicking wasn't going to get him anywhere. He had to focus on what needed to be done. First thing: get rid of the body. Second thing: wipe down the car. Maybe even get rid of it. Third thing: get away for awhile. Mark wasn't going to hold back anymore. He had to get away until he could figure out what the fuck he was going to do about Mark and Jeff.

_Jesus, listen to yourself,_ his conscience said. _You've done nothing but try to ruin their lives and you're still planning on doing more. They've got enough to put you back in jail without bail this time. Do you really think you're going to get away with all this? You're fucked, no matter what you do. You might as well just give it up now._

"Shut up," he growled. He didn't want to hear that shit anymore. He couldn't take it at the moment. He started driving the car again. He was going to fix all of this. He was going to get himself out of this mess. It was just going to take a little time.

That's just what he told himself anyway. Deep down, even he didn't believe himself anymore.

XXXXXXXXX

"We need to go to the police," Maria said.

Jeff shook his head. "No."

Mark sighed. He had taken Jeff back to his hotel room and Maria, Eve and Glenn had met him there. He had wanted to take Jeff to the hospital immediately, but Jeff had broken down crying and screaming, and he wouldn't stop until Mark agreed to just take him back to the hotel.

"Jeff he can't get away with this," Eve said gently. "He raped you. He has to be punished."

"He stopped," Jeff said stubbornly. "He did stop. That has to mean something." He looked at Mark desperately. "It has to mean there's a part of the old Matt still in there."

Mark just shook his head. "It's too late for it to mean a damn thing. He's gone too far and I'm going to kill him and that bitch Beth the next time I see them."

Jeff started to cry again. Mark hugged him tightly. He didn't know what to do. As badly as he wanted to go chase down Matt, he couldn't leave Jeff in this state. Jeff needed him now more than ever.

Glenn suddenly stood up. "I'm going to go hunting," he growled.

"Hunting for what?" Maria asked.

He just gave her a look as he opened the door. "Who do you think?"

Mark would have grinned if the situation didn't suck so badly. Glenn was going to look for Matt since Mark couldn't do it himself. He stroked Jeff's hair and looked at the girls. He tried to use his eyes to tell the girls that he wanted to be alone with Jeff.

Eve got the message. "Come on," she said to Maria. "We should check on Adam. Someone needs to worry about him too if Vickie isn't going to." The girls kissed Jeff on the cheek and then left.

"I'm sorry," Jeff mumbled. He was trying to calm himself down but it wasn't really working. "I'm sorry. I was so stupid I shouldn't have--"

"Shush now," Mark ordered. "None of this is your fault. Do you understand me? None of this is your fault."

Jeff nodded slowly. "Okay."

Mark sighed. He knew Jeff said he understood, but he wasn't sure if the younger man truly believed it. _Glenn better find Matt soon because I don't think Jeff's going to want me to do it myself. He's not ready to turn against his brother completely yet._

_Well he better get ready to_ another voice in his head said. _Because there's no telling what Matt's planning next._


	14. Chapter 14

Matt stopped at the grocery store and bought a box of large grocery bags and some bags of water softener salt. . Then he drove to an old bridge that not a lot of people drove across. He carefully put Beth and the bags of salt in the garbage bags and tossed all that over the bridge. It sunk down into the water, hopefully never to be seen again. Now he just had to get away for a little while. He couldn't get in trouble if he wasn't around to be found.

"You're a real piece of shit you know that?"

Matt's eyes widened as he turned around. Glenn was standing behind him and he looked pissed. "What the--"

Glenn grabbed him by the throat and nearly tossed him over the damn bridge. "I've been following you since the mother fucking grocery store. I saw Beth's body."

"You--"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to the cops yet. You see, if I have you arrested, you'll pay your debt to society. But you won't pay for what you did to Jeff the way Mark and I believe you deserve to pay. You deserve to endure a very slow and painful torture and my brother is going to give it to you."

Matt sneered at the larger man despite his situation. "Oh yeah. Well then why isn't he out here getting me himself? Do I mean so little to him that he has to send a flunky after me?"

Glenn glared at him. "Flunky? You think I'm Mark's flunky? Oh Matthew, you just don't get it. Mark is trying to clean up the mess you left Jeff in. He loves Jeff more than you ever did. And if Jeff makes Mark happy, then I am perfectly willing to help him out anyway I can." He grinned evilly. "And if hurting scum like you helps him, well…that's just a bonus."

Matt gulped. He really, really did not like the sound of that.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Jeff tried to get some sleep. He really, really did. But every time he closed his eyes, he kept reliving Matt's attack on him. That made him scream and cry in fear, and it would take Mark several minutes just to calm him back down again. Finally Jeff had given up, and he was now just staring blankly at the television. He couldn't even tell what the fuck he was watching. For all he knew, the damn thing wasn't even on.

It felt like part of him had been horribly murdered. What Matt had done to him had been so fucked up. The logical part of his brain (which sounded remarkably like Mark's voice) was telling him that there was no going back at all now. Matt could never be forgiven for what he had done. Maybe that voice was right. But right now, he was just so damn conflicted about it. He wanted the old Matt back still. He wanted his older brother back. If this monster could just go away and leave him be…

"Jeff?" Mark said slowly. He gently traced his fingers across Jeff's face. "Baby, will you talk to me?"

Jeff looked down. "What is there to say? I don't even know how you can stand looking at me." He closed his eyes. "I feel so fucking dirty Mark." He got off the bed and went into the bathroom. Ignoring Mark's questions, he stripped off his clothes, turned the shower on as hot as it would go and stepped under the water. It burned his skin so badly that he immediately started turning red all over, but he didn't care. He grabbed a rag and started trying to scrub himself raw.

"Stop it!" Mark ordered. He quickly stepped in and turned some cold water on before Jeff could scald himself anymore than he already had. "Stop it right now. What the hell are you doing?"

"I can still feel him touching me," Jeff said. He kept trying to scrub the memory off his skin. "I can't do it Mark. I can't keep feeling him touching me." He let out a cry of frustration. "It won't come off! Why won't it come off?"

Mark grabbed Jeff by the wrist and made him stop what he was doing. "Listen to me Jeff," he ordered. "You need to stop. You are not dirty and you can't keep scrubbing because you're only going to take your skin off."

"But I feel--"

"I know you feel dirty, but you're not. It's all in your head. What Matt did to you is making you feel this way. It's what Matt did. It's not about you honey, I swear."

Jeff blinked several times before bursting into tears again and burying his face in Mark's chest. He was so sick of crying but he couldn't stop himself. "What am I going to do Mark?" he asked. "How am I going to face him at Wrestlemania? Vickie's not going to let me out of that match and I can't face him after what he did to me."

"There's not going to be a match between you two at Wresltemania," Mark assured him. "That brother of yours isn't going to make it to that day. After what he did…" Mark just shook his head. "I'm done fucking around with him. If he wants to get evil, then I can play that game. And I guarantee you that I will destroy him."

Jeff just looked down and sighed. He still felt conflicted over the whole Mark destroying Matt plan but he couldn't find it in him to argue anymore. He was just so tired of dealing with the situation. It made him feel sick to think about everything that had gone down between him and his brother. He just wanted to curl up in a ball and forget all about it. But he knew there was no escaping what had happened. It was just going to replay in his mind over and over again until he went completely insane. _If I'm not already_, he thought as Mark led him back out of the bathroom. _I'm not too sure of anything anymore at this point._


	15. Chapter 15

Mark had Gil come down to his house in Texas to be with Jeff. He was worried about the fragile state Jeff was in. He didn't want to leave his lover alone for very long, which was what prompted him to bring Gil to help. Not only would having his father help to comfort Jeff, but it would give Mark a chance to do what needed to be done. Glenn had been keeping Matt in a very secret and special place for the past couple of days. Nobody had any idea of the whereabouts of the older Hardy except for the Brothers of Destruction. That was exactly the way they wanted it.

"What are you doing?" Jeff asked quietly as Mark put on his boots. They were in the living room with Gil watching TV.

"I got to help Glenn with something for a couple of hours," Mark said. It wasn't a lie at all because he was going to go help Glenn with something. He just had left out the part of that something being torturing Matt. What Jeff didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "Your dad will be here to take care of you. I promise, I won't be away for longer than I need to be."

Jeff just nodded slowly. It was obvious by his eyes that he suspected Mark was up to something. "But you're going to come back right?"

"Of course I'm coming back," Mark assured him. "I don't even want to go help Glenn. But he's such a big dummy that he can't do all that much without me around." He kissed Jeff on the lips. "I love you. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

"Okay," Jeff said quietly. "Bring back Skittles?"

Mark chuckled. "Yes, I'll get you your Skittles." He looked at Gil. "Take care of him."

"You know I will," Gil assured him. "You don't need to worry about us. We're going to be just fine right here."

With that taken care of, Mark left his house and drove to the burned remains that had once been his parents funeral parlor. Glenn had Matt tied up in what used to be the room the bodies were cremated in. "It's about time you showed up," Glenn said. "I was wondering if you were going to come today."

Mark ignored his little brother and knelt down in front of Matt. Matt's shirt was all ripped up and his chest and stomach were bleeding. "Glenn told me about what you did to Beth. Were you going to do that to Jeff too? Huh?" He punched Matt in the face. "Were you going to kill your own brother? Or were you just planning on raping him?" He punched Matt again. "I know Jeff said you stop but I really don't care. You're nothing but a piece of shit Matthew. Everything you've done to Jeff…it's all going to come back to you and it's going to be doubled. You can count on that."

Matt just glared at him. "What are you going to do Marky? You going to kill me?" He spit out the blood that was in his mouth. "Do you think Jeff would forgive you if you killed me? Do you think he would still love you if you sank down to my level?"

Mark just shrugged. "I haven't decided exactly how this whole thing is going to end yet. But believe me, by the time I do, you're going to be begging for death. I promise you that Matthew Moore Hardy. You will be BEGGING for death."

Glenn handed him a small black bag. "Here, go ahead and start with this. I had some fun with the knife already."

"I can see that," Mark replied. He opened the bag and pulled out a car battery and some jumper cables. "I'll have to settle for using this first then." He grinned at Matt. "Now don't worry, this is only going to hurt you a hell of a lot. It won't affect Glenn and I at all."

XXXXXXXXXX

Jeff fidgeted nervously. He knew Mark was up to something. He wasn't stupid. Mark was hell bent on getting his hands on Matt whether he liked it or not. That was the problem. He wanted to like it. Matt deserved everything that Mark was going to do to him. He deserved every ounce of suffering that was inflicted on to him. But Matt was still Jeff's brother. Jeff had never wanted any of this to happen. And part of him still loved his Matt. The Matt that hadn't been a monster. The Matt that had taken care of him and had been a very loving big brother. The Matt that would die before hurting him in any way, let alone rape and terrorize him.

"What's wrong Jeff?" Gil asked. He was watching his youngest son carefully.

"Mark knows where Matt is, doesn't he?" Jeff asked. "That's why he didn't tell me exactly where he was going. He and Glenn are hurting him right now, aren't they?"

Gil just sighed and shrugged. "I don't know Jeff. Mark hasn't told me a thing."

Jeff got up. He was unsure about what he should do. "Daddy, what am I going to do? I don't know how bad Mark's going to hurt Matt. I'm not sure I even want to know. Am I bad for still wanting the old Matt back?"

"You're not bad Jeff. You're just human. I want the old Matt back too. But sometimes, when people go off the deep end, there's no getting them back. And if that's what has happened, then pain might be the only way to get him to leave you alone."

That didn't make Jeff feel much better. He still felt very, very conflicted. He tried to think of where Mark could possibly have Matt. Suddenly he remembered that Mark had pointed the remains of the old funeral home the very first time Jeff had come to stay here. It was secluded and very few people even knew about it these days. It was the perfect place for Mark and Glenn to go through with whatever they were doing. "I have to go where he is," he said. He looked at his dad. "I know where he is."

Gil nodded. "I know son. I had a feeling you were going to need to do that. What are you going to do when you get there though?"

Jeff shook his head. "I don't know yet. I'll figure that out when I get there." _Right now, getting there is all that matters._


	16. Chapter 16

Mark stared down at the prone form of Matt Hardy. The smaller man was in a state of near unconsciousness. After the car battery had stopped being fun, Mark had played with his knife for a little while before smacking Matt around with a bike chain. It had been all fun and games until this point but now it was time to get serious. "Wakey wakey Matt," he said. He took Matt's hand and grabbed on to one of the fingers. "It's time for us to have a little conference." He snapped one of Matt's fingers easily.

Matt cried out in pain. "Go to hell Mark. I don't fucking want to talk to you."

Mark glared at him and broke another one of his fingers. "Well that's too bad Matthew. We're going to talk whether you like it." He played with Matt's middle finger, threatening to break it but not quite going that far. "You're in a pretty bad situation here Matty. You killed Beth and you basically raped your brother. There's no chance you're getting out of this easily. You need to pay for everything you've done. But there is a question about what should be done after I'm done making you pay." This time he did break Matt's middle finger. He liked the scream of pain Matt let out. "Do you think you can go away Matt? Do you think you can disappear and never come back again?"

"I don't know Mark," Glenn said. He was shaking his head. "I think you need to do some more convincing."

Mark picked up his lighter. "You know Glenn, I think you're right." He flicked the lighter and pressed the flame against Matt's nipple.

"Mark!" Jeff yelled. He came bursting in as fast as he could. "Mark stop! That's enough!" He grabbed the larger man and tried to pull him away. "Please stop. That's enough. Don't hurt him anymore."

Mark refused to budge. He just looked at his lover in confusion. "How did you know--"

"I know you Mark," Jeff said. "I know how you are. I appreciate the revenge gesture but he could get you in trouble for this."

Glenn shook his head. "He can't get us in trouble without screwing himself over. He tells on us, I spill his little secret."

"What secret?"

"Beth's murder," Mark explained. "He killed Beth and dumped her body off a bridge."

Jeff just stared at him for a moment. "That's not funny Mark."

"I wish I was joking," Mark replied. He took Jeff's hand and squeezed it tightly. "I really wish I was joking about that. Matt's gone Jeff. Matt's not coming back."

Jeff didn't look like he wanted to believe it. "Matt…" he said slowly.

Matt managed to grin evilly at his brother. "I killed that whore," he managed to get out. He was planning on being defiant until the end. "I bashed her brains up against my car window. I liked doing it. But you know what? It would have been better if it was you. I wish I had killed you when I had the chance."

Mark clenched his fist angrily. He picked up the bike chain and wrapped it around his fist. He had heard quite enough from this asshole. He raised his fist to hit Matt in the face when Jeff knelt down and rested his head against Matt's face. The younger Hardy had an unreadable expression on his face. Mark wanted to move him out of the way but Glenn stopped him.

"Just wait," the Big Red Machine said.

Jeff closed his eyes. He had a few tears coming out of his eyes. "I don't know what I did to you to make you hate me," he said. He sounded like he was close to breaking down completely. "All I ever did was love you. I hoped you would stop all this. I hoped you would be my brother again." He gulped and opened his eyes. "But you're not going to, are you? You're never going to stop hurting me until you kill me." He took a deep breath. "I'm not sick enough to do get back at you the way you need to be. I still love you. God help me, I do still love you." He suddenly moved his head up a little so he could look into Matt's eyes. "But I don't love you enough to stop Mark from doing it for me." He got up and left as quickly as he had come in.

Mark stared down at Matt. "Are you happy now?" He punched Matt with the chain wrapped fist. "Huh? You happy now? You probably just broke whatever strings had been holding his heart together."

Matt just shrugged. "I haven't been happy for a long time Deadman. All this means is that the black cloud can rest for awhile."

Growling in anger, Mark punched the younger man several times as hard as he could. "You think you're a black cloud? I'll fucking show you what a black cloud really is boy. I'm going to--"

"Mark," Glenn interrupted. He came back in, which was surprising because Mark hadn't heard him leave. "Jeff disappeared. I tried to follow him but he ran off." He gave Mark a serious look. "He's really upset Mark. I think you need to find him before he does something stupid."

"Shit," Mark muttered. He should have known this was going to happen. He should have made sure to put Matt where Jeff couldn't find them. Now the "black cloud" had managed to hurt Jeff one more time. And even though Jeff had finally let Matt go, that was probably the straw that broke Jeff's back. Coming face to face with the reality that his brother was too far gone to come back was what probably broke Jeff's heart. Mark handed Glenn the chain that had been around his fist. He could trust his brother to do what needed to be done. Right now, he had to get to his lover before the younger did anything rash, impulsive and stupid.


	17. Chapter 17

Jeff had no idea where he currently was right now. He remembered leaving the ruined funeral parlor and running like there was no tomorrow. He had been trying to outrun Matt's harsh words and his heart that had broken into a million tiny pieces. But no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't escape the reality of the situation. The Matt he had loved was gone. In his place was an evil, heartless, soulless son of a bitch that had put Jeff through hell and finally succeeded in breaking him.

Jeff's cell phone was vibrating in his pocket but he didn't stop to answer it. It was probably Mark or Gil trying to find out where he was. He didn't want anybody to find him. Nobody was going to understand the pain he was in right now. They would tell him everything was going to be okay, but it would all just be a lie. He was tired of hiding behind the lies. The truth was out now. There was no going back, no matter how much they all wanted to.

He didn't realize it was raining until he slipped and fell in a patch of mud. Sputtering and spitting out the disgusting mess out of his mouth, he flinched as thunder boomed loudly. God he hated thunderstorms. When he was little, he used to run into Matt's room and cling to him during the storms. Thinking of that almost made him cry. There was nobody out here to keep him safe tonight. He was all alone in the middle of nowhere because he was dumb and pretty much ran out of the city in his haste to get away. He shivered and tried to figure out if he saw any abandoned place he could go that could at least give him some shelter until the storm stopped. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of any place.

His phone rang again. This time he answered it. "Hello?"

"Jeff!" Mark said in relief. "Jesus Christ, I've been worried sick! Where are you?"

"I don't know," Jeff whimpered. He let out a frightened squeak as another boom of thunder came about. "But it's storming really bad out here and I don't like it." He squeaked again as an even louder clash of thunder sounded.

Mark sighed. "Okay honey, listen to me. You need to stay calm so we can try to figure out where you are. Can you look around for me and tell me if you see any kind of landmark that sticks out at you?"

Jeff looked around. "It's really dark out here. Mark please just come get me."

"That's what I'm going to try to do honey," Mark tried to explain to him. "But I'm not going to be able to if you don't help me out here."

Jeff forced himself to take a deep breath. "Uh…let me look around for a minute." He started walking, which was a very hard thing for him to do because his legs were shaking like crazy. Finally, when he was about to start panicking again, he found something that would be helpful. "I'm about five miles outside the city limits," he said. He looked around. There weren't any cars coming that he could see. "I'm all alone out here Mark. I don't like it."

"I know you don't babe. I'm coming for you right now."

"Will you stay on the phone with me?"

"Yeah. Your phone might be ruined after this but--"

"I don't care," Jeff interrupted. He was near tears again. "If I die out here, the last thing I want to hear is your voice."

"Jeffery Nero Hardy! You are not going to die tonight! Don't you dare start talking like that!"

Jeff winced. He could tell he had really upset Mark with that comment. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "Don't be mad. I didn't mean to upset you."

Mark sighed. "I'm not upset with you Jeff. I'm just worried about you. I know what Matt meant to you and I know this has to be killing you."

The word "killing" made Jeff flinch. "What did you do to Matt?" he asked in an unsteady voice. "And please don't lie to me to spare me the truth."

"Honestly Jeff, I don't know what Glenn has done to him yet. I stopped torturing him to come and find you. You are more important than any revenge I would ever take on anybody." Just seconds after that was uttered, Mark's car pulled up beside Jeff.

Jeff hung up his phone and practically leapt into the car. He shut the door behind him and climbed on Mark's lap. "Oh God Mark," he sobbed, finally shedding the tears he had been holding back for so long. "Mark…"

"Ssshhhhh," Mark said soothingly. "I know baby. I know."

"Matt…he said….he said he wished…" Jeff couldn't even finish that sentence. Hearing his brother's hateful words in his head just made him cry harder.

Mark didn't say anything for a long time. He just held Jeff tightly, and he kept holding on even after Jeff had stopped crying. Jeff wasn't about to object though. He was perfectly fine with just being held. It made him feel safe, which was what he desperately needed right now.

Mark's phone rang suddenly. Mark sighed and reluctantly answered it. "Yeah?" A dark look came over his face. "So you did do it," he said. "Okay. You know what you need to do now. What? Yeah. Okay. No, please don't give me details. If I don't know the full story then I won't have to lie to Jeff. Yeah. Okay. Be careful then. Okay. Bye."

Jeff studied Mark carefully. "Was that Glenn?" he asked.

Mark nodded.

"What did he say?"

"He said it's done. It's over. Matt won't be able to hurt you anymore."

Jeff froze. "He's dead."

Mark sighed and hesitated before nodding. "Yes. I don't know what Glenn did and I don't want to know because then you'll demand to know too. I'm sorry Jeff. Maybe I should have talked to you before--"

Jeff shook his head. "No. My Matt was gone long before this. Whatever Glenn did…he did it to Matt's shell." It killed him to say that, but deep in his heart, he knew it was true. "I just…I don't know how Dad's going to take this."

"I'll take care of your dad," Mark assured him. "Don't even worry about it. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

Jeff sighed and rested his head on Mark's shoulder. If he had any more tears, he would cry for Matt right now. The old Matt anyway. But he was too exhausted to do anything but cling to Mark. He was too emotionally drained to really feel much of anything. He just closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep. And for awhile, he was able to find peace there.

But that peace went away when the nightmares started just a few hours later…


	18. Chapter 18

_Jeff couldn't get out of the chair he was tied to. The ropes that bound him were impossibly tight. "Matt please," he begged. "Don't do this."_

_"Why not?" Matt asked. He was placing Jack into a plastic trash bag and tying it shut. "It's already done little brother. There's no turning back now."_

_"Matt stop it!" Jeff yelled. He was sobbing at this point. "Leave Jack alone!"_

_Matt ignored him of course. He grabbed a flaming torch and slowly started to push the flames towards the trash bag._

_"No! No please don't! Don't kill my dog!"_

_"You don't get it, do you little brother? I've already done this before. I have to do it again."_

Jeff screamed and woke up as the trash bag was set ablaze. "Jack! No Matt! Jack!"

Mark nearly jumped a foot off the bed before grabbing the younger man and holding him tightly. "Shh, it's just a nightmare baby," he said soothingly. "It's just a dream. Matt's gone kid. He's gone and he's not coming back."

Jeff dissolved into tears and buried his face in Mark's chest. This had been his third nightmare tonight. They were beginning to drive him crazy. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Matt. His older brother was haunting him now. "Matt killed Jack Mark," he sobbed. He was starting to hyperventilate now. "He put him in a trash bag and he set it on fire…"

"Jeff stop for a--"

"He burned down my house too. He never said it but I know he did it. Oh God, he really did kill Jack. My baby Jack got all burned up…"

Mark silenced Jeff's hysterical mantra with a kiss. "Baby you need to calm down," the Deadman said quietly. "You need to breathe for a second."

Jeff forced himself to take several deep breaths. He had stopped sobbing at this point, but tears were still coming down his face. "It didn't help."

"What didn't help?"

"Glenn…" Jeff couldn't bear to say the words "killing Matt". It felt like a knife was going through his chest when he even dared to think those words. "It didn't help. Matt's still haunting me. He's in my head now all the time. He still won't leave me alone." He shook his head. "I can't get him out Mark. No matter what I do, he's always in there. He still wants to hurt me."

Mark looked like he was at a loss for words. "What do you want me to do Jeff? What can I do to make this better?"

"You can't do anything. Nobody can help me." Jeff sat up and pulled his knees up to his chest. The next words were going to be hard for him to say, but he had to say them so Mark would understand what kind of pain he was in. "The only thing that can help me is death."

Mark started to look uneasy. "What do you mean by death?"

Jeff gulped. He knew Mark was about to get mad. He just knew it. "I mean I need to die Mark. I mean that I need you to let me die."

The room went deadly quiet. Jeff was afraid to look his lover in the eyes. When he finally got the courage to do so, he immediately wished he hadn't. Mark look so hurt and upset that it about broke his heart. "I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I didn't mean it."

"No, you did," Mark said. He got off the bed slowly. "You meant exactly what you said." He walked over to the window and looked out through it.

They stayed like that for several minutes, Jeff nearly ready to start sobbing again on the bed and Mark just staring out the window. Finally Jeff couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take the silence. He hadn't meant to make Mark mad. "I'm sorry," Jeff whined, almost crying again. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad at me Mark. Please don't be mad at me."

Mark slowly turned around and came back to the bed. He had tears in his own eyes, but he was trying to blink them back. "Is it really that bad?" he asked quietly. "Has your life really gotten to the point where you want to leave me?"

"That's not what you said!" Jeff said defensively. "I love you. I don't want to leave you."

"But you want to die. And that'll take you away from me." Mark pulled Jeff into his arms and held him tight. "I can't lose you Jeff. Please, I'll do anything to help you. Just don't leave me."

Jeff shut his eyes. Now he hated himself even more. He had gone and nearly made Mark cry, which was something most people didn't even believe was possible. "Can we go away somewhere?" he asked quietly. "After Wrestlemania, can we just leave and not come back for awhile? Can we go somewhere that's not haunted by Matt?"

"Okay," Mark said. "I know a place we can go." He sounded relieved that Jeff wasn't talking about death anymore."

Of course, that didn't mean the thought had been completely out of the younger man's mind…


	19. Chapter 19

Mark kept a watchful eye on Jeff for the next several days. The fact that Jeff had even voiced a desire for death made him very, very uneasy. He loved Jeff and didn't want anything to happen to him. Yet no matter what he said or did, the younger man just seemed to be slipping further and further away from him. It was scaring him to death and the last thing he wanted to do was go and wrestle Shawn Michaels. Hell, he almost pulled out of the match completely just for Jeff's well being. But then Vince had made him an offer he couldn't refuse. If he agree to go through with the match, he and Jeff could have up to an entire year off. Even though nobody but himself, Jeff and Glenn knew of Matt's true fate, everyone could see how much damage the older Hardy had done. Jeff was going to need a long time to recover--if he was even capable of fully recovering at this point.

But even though Mark agreed to wrestle in the match, it didn't mean that he was fully there for the thing. All he could think about was Jeff. Maria, Eve and Glenn were keeping an eye on him during the match, but that didn't make Mark feel any better. He just wanted to be with Jeff. He didn't want to be wrestling, not even at Wrestlemania. And that was probably his biggest mistake, because while he was thinking of Jeff, he leapt over the ropes to jump at Shawn--only he landed right on his head instead.

_Okay, that wasn't good,_ Mark thought as he just laid there for awhile. _This is going to come back and haunt me soon._ Somehow he managed to get back in the ring and not only continue the match, but win it as well. Still, he knew he had fucked himself up pretty good with that botched move. He was lucky he didn't get seriously hurt. _Or maybe I am and I just don't _know_ it yet,_ he thought bitterly to himself as he walked towards the back. _Because that's exactly what I need now: more bad luck._

Jeff was waiting anxiously for him right by the curtain. It looked as if everyone had to restrain him from running out to ringside. "Mark!" he said in relief.. He practically jumped into the larger man's arms. "Are you okay? Did you land on your head? What were you thinking doing that? How could you do something so reckless?"

Mark chuckled. "Me reckless? You're the guy who jumps off ladders and parts of the building and stuff."

"Yeah, but I don't make myself land on my head!" Jeff snapped. "And what I do isn't important at the moment. You had me absolutely worried sick! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Mark sighed. At least Jeff was acting like a human being and not like the mess he had become as of late. "Jeff, just calm down for a minute. I'm okay. The landing stunned the hell out of me for awhile, but I'm okay."

Jeff didn't looked confused. "It looked like you broke your neck," he whimpered.

Maria, Eve and Glenn all just stared at Mark. Even though it had been a total accident, they were all upset with him for upsetting Jeff. He looked around. A lot of the other wrestlers were looking at him too. Either they wanted to see how he was going to make things better or they wanted to see Jeff fall apart. _Fuck them. They won't get to see either._ "Come on," he whispered to Jeff. He carefully took the Enigma by the hand and they went to their dressing room. He shut the door behind him and locked it so nobody else could just walk in.

"It didn't look like you were going to get up," Jeff said softly. It seemed as if he was talking to Mark, but it also seemed like he was talking more to himself. "The way they kept replaying it over and over again…I just kept imagining you breaking your neck over and over again…"

"Shush now," Mark ordered softly. He pulled Jeff into an embrace and let the younger man bury his face into his chest. It broke his heart to hear the little sobs that were coming from his lover. Jeff was in way too fragile of a state right now to handle anything. Any little thing could really push him over the edge and that would be really bad. "I'm fine. Nothing seriously bad happened to me."

"But it could have," Jeff whimpered. His breathing was rough and ragged now. "You could--_hic_--broken your neck--_hic_--and people die from broken necks sometimes and--"

"Jeff stop it!" Mark pleaded. He had to resist the urge to shake Jeff. "I am okay. I won't do that jump again if you don't want me to, but you need to calm down. I am not going to die any time soon. Why in the world would that idea even come into your head?"

Jeff didn't say anything for a minute or two. When he finally did answer, he was whispering so it was almost impossible to hear what he said. "I dreamt that Matt killed you."

Mark shook his head. "Matt's dead Jeff. He's gone forever. He can't hurt us anymore."

"He hurts me in my head still," Jeff whimpered. He clung to Mark's shirt like it was the only thing keeping him there. "It won't stop Mark. I can't make it stop. It's never going to stop."

"It will," Mark said immediately. He didn't want Jeff to start thinking that death was the only way out again. He didn't think his heart could handle that at the moment. "We're going to go somewhere far away and we're going to make the nightmares go away. Okay? Can you hang on for me baby?"

Jeff hesitated for a moment before answering. "I'll try."

Mark gulped. He realized just how little Jeff was hanging on to life at that moment, and for the first time in a long time, he was truly scared. He was scared that he would lose Jeff before he could save him. _Oh God, what am I going to do?_ he asked himself. _I can't lose him…fuck, I'll die without him. Jesus, let me be able to help him before it's too late…_


	20. Chapter 20

Jeff soon learned that Mark was completely serious about taking him away from everything. The day after Wrestlemania, they ended up in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere. It was isolated from everything and everyone associated with the past few months of hell he had endured. He appreciated the fact that Mark was really trying to help him, and he tried his best to put everything Matt did to him in the past.

But it wasn't as easy as he wanted it to be. During the day, it was easy to get distracted. Mark was constantly keeping him busy, and he found himself going a couple of hours at a time without thinking about his older brother. Nights were another story though. As soon as he fell asleep, the nightmares would start and they were just as bad as they had ever been. It got to the point where he tried to not fall asleep no matter what, and that soon began to affect him during the day too. It made him more tired and more susceptible to thoughts about Matt, and he was getting back to the point where he was being haunted both night and day by his brother. And honestly, he didn't know if he could take much more of it.

The worst part was the fact that Jeff knew that Mark knew that everything was falling apart. They both kept trying, but they both knew Jeff was wasting away. The mental torture he was still enduring wouldn't let up. He kept trying to tell himself that everything got worse before it got better, only he didn't see any better on the horizon for him. He just saw an even darker abyss that was just waiting to swallow him whole.

One day, a little over two weeks after Jeff and Mark had arrived at the cabin, Glenn came to see them. He wasn't exactly alone though. He had something that looked like a casket in the back of the truck he had driven. Mark went out to talk to him alone, and Jeff had a feeling what was in that casket, even though he wished he didn't.

After a few minutes of apparent back and forth arguing, Mark and Glenn came back into the cabin to see Jeff. From the look on Mark's face, it appeared that Glenn had actually won the argument for once. "Jeff, you need to come outside with us for a minute," Glenn said.

"Why?" Jeff asked.

"We need to show you something."

"What is it?"

"I think you already know what it is."

Jeff shook his head. He didn't want to believe what Glenn had brought with him was in that casket, so he was going to try to deny it as long as possible.

Glenn sighed. "Jeff, Matt is dead. Mark has tried to make that as clear to you as he possibly can, but we all know you're not really believing it. You think Matt's out there waiting to hurt you again. You have to see for yourself that he's gone for good."

Jeff gulped. Part of him wanted the reassurance that Matt was really gone for good so badly that he could taste it. But he was scared to even go outside because it would bring him closer to the reality that was waiting for him. "Mark…"

Mark shook his head. "This is your choice Jeff. This has to be your choice. But if you're going to do it, then it'll be better to just do it and get it over with. You're going to psych yourself out if you don't just get it over with."

Jeff took a deep breath. He was shaking so badly that he could barely walk out the front door. He didn't want to do this, but he had to know one way or another. He realized that he couldn't function without knowing for sure. He was going to end up killing himself if he kept trying to live in the constant fear of Matt's revenge.

The casket was in the truck waiting for him. It looked so ominous that Jeff almost turned around and ran back into the cabin. But somehow he managed to stay on course and he climbed on to the back of the truck. With a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and without waiting for Mark and Glenn to catch up with him, he opened the lid to the casket.

What was laying inside the casket was definitely Matt, but it was hard to tell at first because the body was badly decomposed. Jeff let out a small scream and jumped down from the trunk. He tried to run back towards the cabin, but his legs absolutely refused to work. He just curled up into a ball and began to sob uncontrollably.

"You fucking moron!" Mark yelled at Glenn. "Do you see what your idea did?" He knelt down beside Jeff and helped him sit up. "Jeff? Honey talk to me."

Jeff tried to regain his composure, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He just kept crying and crying. He didn't know whether it was from grief from the knowledge that Matt was actually dead, or the relief that he now knew he was safe for good. The bad Matt couldn't hurt him anymore. The bad Matt couldn't hurt anyone when he was laying dead in a box.

Jeff was barely aware of Mark picking him up and taking him back to the cabin. He just clung to the larger man for dear life, not wanting to be left go at all. Not now, not ever. Mark was the only real protector he had left now that Matt was gone.

"Honey I'm sorry," Mark said. He laid Jeff down on the bed and laid down next to him just a second later. "I shouldn't have let you do that. I shouldn't have let you look. I knew it was a bad idea."

Jeff didn't say anything. He just snuggled up closer to Mark and cried until he finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep, leaving Mark and Glenn to wonder if he had finally broke completely.


	21. Chapter 21

Mark continued to hold Jeff tightly, long after he had cried himself to sleep. "We fucked up badly," he told Glenn. "That was a terrible fucking idea."

Glenn sighed. "He needed to know Matt was dead. Maybe we should have gone about it differently, but it's too late now. We're just going to have to help him deal with this as best we can."

Mark sighed. He knew Glenn was right, but that didn't really comfort him all that much. He was so afraid that Jeff had finally been pushed over the edge for good. "I love him Glenn," he confessed. "I can't lose him. I'd die without him."

"Well it's about time you admit that," Glenn said. He sat down next to Mark. "You're not going to lose him, because we're not going to let that happen. We're going to help him get through this, no matter what happens. Okay?"

"Jesus, since when have you had such a way with words?"

"Oh I've always had the way, I just never used to show it. I always fancied myself as the strong, silent type."

"What made you change?"

"Finding out my voice annoys you."

Mark let out a small chuckle. "You're an asshole, you know that?"

Glenn nodded. "Yup, I know," he admitted proudly. "And you're an idiot and Jeff loves you for whatever reason. I can't think of a good one, but the boy isn't playing with a full deck."

Mark growled. "Don't insult my Jeffey that way. You keep your damn mouth shut about him." He kissed the sleeping Jeff's cheek and then rested his face into his neck. "He's not crazy. He's just eccentric."

Glenn rolled his eyes. "Wow, I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again. It's one thing to love a man, but when you use that weird, mushy tone, it not only makes me want to throw up, but it's scarier than hell. I might actually have nightmares now."

"Oh fuck off and die," Mark muttered irritably. "Go bury Matt or something and be quiet. I'm going to let Jeff sleep a little bit more before I wake him up." _And hopefully he didn't fucking get traumatized for life by this fucking incident, because I'm really going to lose him if he was._

XXXXXXXXXX

_Jeff was at the burned down remains of his old house. He was down on the ground, and he was attempting to scoot away from Matt, who was advancing on him slowly. "Get away from me," he begged. "Please just leave me alone!"_

_"I can't Jeff," Matt said. "I have to drag you down to hell with me. It's the only way I can make sure you--"_

_"Hey! Get the hell away from him!"_

_Matt turned around and a fist was driven all the way through his stomach. Jeff let out a yell and closed his eyes as he flinched violently. He took several deep breaths before opening his eyes again. The bad Matt was down on the ground, obviously dead, and standing in his place was…well, it was Matt._

_"Fucking bastard," Matt muttered. He kicked the evil version of himself right in the face. "That's what you get for killing me off and making me into a complete and total monster."_

_Jeff stared up at his older brother in shock. "Matty?"_

_Matt nodded and carefully helped Jeff up to his feet. "I'm sorry Jeff. I'm so sorry about everything. I let myself get turned into a monster and I deserved to die." He almost chuckled. "It wasn't until I died that I was me again."_

_"What?" Jeff was so confused. "Matty, why are you here? Are you really here? Is this real?"_

_"Technically no, because you're dreaming. But some people would say I'm really visiting you in your dreams. Or maybe your subconscious is just trying to tell you something that your conscious has yet to realize."_

_"And what's that?"_

_"That you need to move on with your life. I'm gone Jeff. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore. You need to find the strength to move on with your life. Mark needs you more than you know. He loves you and I know you two will be happy together."_

_"But…what about you?" Jeff asked pathetically. HIS Matt was standing in front of him now. The old Matt was back, and it was like the months of hell hadn't happened at all._

_Matt smiled sadly. "I'll always be with you Jeff, in one way or another." He cupped Jeff's face in his hands and kissed his forehead. "It's time for you to wake up Jeffey."_

_"But--"_

Jeff woke up before he could finish his protest. But for the first time in a long time, he hadn't woken up screaming. In fact, he woke up feeling absolutely calm and serene. An epiphany washed over him. The evil Matt was gone. He really was dead. And the memory of the good Matt would be with him forever. That Matt had loved him more than anything in the world.

"Jeff?" Mark said hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

Jeff rolled over and grinned for the first time in what felt like forever. "Yes," he replied honestly. "I'm okay."

Mark ran his thumb over the corner of his eye. "You've got a tear…"

"It's a good tear," Jeff assured him. "I'm okay." He kissed Mark softly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Never leave me?"

"Never. Nobody could ever drag me away from you. I love you too much for that."

Jeff snuggled up closer to Mark. That was good. He wanted Mark to stay with him forever because he knew what Matt had said was true: Mark made him happy. And after everything that happened, happiness was something he really deserved to have for pretty much the rest of his life.


	22. Chapter 22

After taking an additional month off just to make sure Jeff, was okay, Mark decided it was time to go back home. Neither of them were going back to wrestle yet, but living in civilization would give them even more time to make sure Jeff was ready to live his life again. To his credit, Jeff didn't relapse into his near suicidal ways. In fact, the last dream he had had about the good Matt coming back to save him had given him a sense of peace. Mark was thankful for that, and it made him happy to see Jeff acting like his old self again.

About a week after they returned home, Glenn told Maria and Eve that Jeff was feeling better. That of course meant the girls told everyone else, and they all decided to come down to Mark's house for a party. Now how eating his food, drinking his beer and destroying his stuff was a party, Mark did not know. But he did know that Jeff was excited, so he decided to raise too much of a fuss.

"Mark!" Jeff yelled. "I have a problem! Help me fix it!"

Mark sighed as he got up and went to the bathroom. "What is it?" he asked.

Jeff, who was wearing a skin tight, blue, long sleeved shirt and black cargo pants, was holding his freshly dyed purple/pink hair like he was going to tear it out. "The pig tails won't go the way I want them too!" he whined. "I need you to do it for me."

"Okay Jeff, I know I'm gay and all that, but I'm not THAT gay."

"Mark! This is no time for jokes! People are going to be here soon and I don't want to look like crap!" His lower lip began to tremble and he looked at his larger lover with puppy dog eyes.

_Oh the things I do for love_, Mark thought to himself as he sighed. He took the ponytails off the sink and started fixing Jeff's hair. "If you ever tell anyone I did this, there will be hell to pay," he growled.

Jeff grinned sweetly. "Are you afraid your reputation will be ruined by this?"

"Oh it would totally ruined. I can't be a badass that knows how to put hair into pigtails. Those two things go together like oil and water." He pulled his hands away and stepped back. "There. Is that better?"

Jeff looked in the mirror and nodded. "Yup. I look pretty now." He hopped over to Mark and gave him a big kiss. "Don't worry, I won't tell anybody you did it." He tried to walk away, but Mark stopped him in his tracks.

"I sacrificed some of my macho points for you and that's all I get?" Mark asked. He actually felt kind of used and offended at the moment.

Jeff rolled his eyes and gave Mark another kiss. "You'll get more later," he promised as he broke apart before Mark could even begin to deepen the kiss. "I need to go downstairs and get ready to claim my presents."

"Presents?"

"Yup. Maria said they were bringing presents. And I can't get my presents if I'm busy trying to make you feel all manly."

Mark sighed and shook his head as Jeff happily ran out of the room. "At least the boy knows his priorities," he muttered to himself. He reached down and felt the thing he had stashed in his pocket. Maria had called him the day before and said they should all get presents for Jeff to make sure his spirits were kept up. He had thought that was a good idea (even though he hadn't admitted that out loud) and had a long lengthy talk with Glenn about what he should get. And even though he was even less likely to admit that Glenn had put the idea in his head, he had bought something for Jeff that needed to be given at the right time and place. He wasn't sure when and where that was, but he would figure it out soon enough.

The others started arriving not too long after he left the bathroom and joined Glenn and Jeff in the living room. About half of the company showed up, and it didn't take long for Mark's house to get almost completely destroyed. He almost throttled Ken and Jay because they kept knocking shit over, but Jeff apparently found the whole thing hilarious. Mark was so happy to hear Jeff actually laughing that he let the two blonde idiots go (although he did say he would kill them if they did it again, whether Jeff laughed or not).

"Presents!" Jeff yelled suddenly. He began jumping up and down like a small child. "Give me the presents! I did them now people!"

"Okay okay, calm down," Maria said. She led him over to the presents, which were all stacked up by the couch. "Don't go completely nuts on us."

Mark watched Jeff in amusement as the younger man tore through the presents like there was no tomorrow. He ended up getting a Playstation 3 (which meant Mark was going to have an even harder time tearing Jeff away from the television when he wanted to have sex), Guitar Hero 3 with a guitar (which would probably get broken), a remote control car (Mark immediately planned to take it and run over Glenn's feet with it), nail polish (now the house was always going to stink like that shit) a giant box of Pixie Stix (Ken was going to get killed) and about fifty bags of Skittles (Jay and Mickie were joining Ken in hell).

Jeff looked at Mark. "Do you got a present for me?" he asked sweetly.

Mark raised his eyebrows. "Maybe," he said teasingly.

Jeff looked at him expectedly. "Well hand it over Marky. I want it right now."

Mark looked at Glenn, who just kind of nodded at him. "Okay then," Mark agreed. "Close your eyes."

Jeff closed his eyes and held out his hands. Mark reached into his pocket and opened the small box he had in his possession. Maria almost squealed out loud but he shushed her with a look. He placed the open box in Jeff's hand and grinned. "Okay, open your eyes now."

Jeff opened his eyes and they nearly popped out of his head when he saw what he was now holding. "Is this a…? What the…? Mark…?"

"That is an engagement ring my friend," Ken said wisely. He had a grin on his face that Mark did not really like. "Now is the moment of truth. Are you willing to go from--"

Mark heard Ken's intake of breath and slapped his hand over the idiot's mouth. "Boy, if you start that yelling shit in my house, I'm going to--"

"Yes!"

Mark was so shocked to hear Jeff speak that he let go of Ken. He turned around to see Jeff putting the ring on his finger. "What did you just say?"

"He said yes you fucking moron!" Glenn snapped. "He's going to marry you! Although I don't know why, because it wasn't a very romantic proposal. I think you should get down on your knees and make a big beautiful speech so I can mock you with it later."

Mark glared at his little brother. "Or I could take my foot and shove it up your--"

"You, me, bedroom, now!" Jeff said. He grabbed Mark by the hand and started dragging him upstairs. "Sex must be had!"

Mark looked at the others. "If any of you destroy any more of my stuff, you are so dead when I get done!" He picked up Jeff and started carrying him to their room. "So you like my present the best?"

Jeff nodded. "Yup. And I'm going to show you every day from now till the day we die."

Mark liked the sound of that and he was perfectly willing to go along with that plan. "Jeffery Nero Callaway...now that has a nice ring to it."


End file.
